Chillicothe, Ohio – Shawnee State baseball picked up a win on Monday afternoon, defeating Kentucky Christian 8-6 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
The Bears would strike in the bottom of the first inning. Seth Clement (FR/Kissimmee, Florida) would lead off the frame with a single, and then score on Joseph Campos (FR/Orlando, Florida)' double down the left field line. SSU would score again in the bottom of the fourth inning, with Casey Claflin (SR/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio)'s sacrifice fly to left-center scoring Dalton Phillips (JR/Hastings, Michigan) to make the score 2-0 Shawnee State.
Kentucky Christian would rally to take the lead in the top of the fifth. Trey Cline and Adam Scarberry would draw back-to-back walks with one out. With two outs, Dane Wilson would walk to load the bases. Jesse James (SR/Grayson, Kentucky) would replace Shawnee State starter Alex Walker (JR/Hopkinsville, Kentucky), but Jantzen Smith would single off James into shallow left to score Cline and pinch runner Trey Mills to tie the score at 2-2. Brandon Clark would then triple over Campos' head to score Wilson and Smith, putting Kentucky Christian up 4-2 after five innings.
The Knights would rally for two more runs in the top of the eighth. Cody Daniels would lead off the inning with a single, and Brock Damron would triple him home one batter later. Cline would single in the next at-bat to score Damron. Shawnee State would hold Kentucky Christian to keep the score 6-2 headed to the bottom of the eighth.
Shawnee State would rally in the bottom half of the frame. Campos would triple to lead off the inning, and would come in to score on Phillips' RBI single to cut the lead to 6-3. Phillips would steal second, and reach third on Levi Jones (JR/Millersburg, Ohio)' single to left. Jones would also steal second, and on the same pitch Phillips would score and Jones advance to third on a passed ball. JT Boggs (SR/South Shore, Kentucky) would blast a double to the left field fence, scoring Jones and cutting the lead to 6-5.
Kentucky Christian would replace starting pitcher Dakota Bowen with Damron, but the SSU rally would continue. With one out, Sam Gerhold (SR/Shelton, Washington) would be hit by a pitch. A wild pitch by Damron would then advance pinch runner Anthony Nichols (JR/Fargo, North Dakota) and Gerhold up to third and second, respectively. Danny McGuire (FR/Cleveland, Ohio) would then hit a slow roller to shortstop, scoring Nichols and moving Gerhold to third base, tying the game at 6-6. Another passed ball would then allow Gerhold to score, giving Shawnee State the lead. Blake Marshall (JR/Lexington, Kentucky) would walk, advance to second on a steal, and get to third on another passed ball. Marshall would score on a wild pitch by third KCU pitcher of the inning Dane Wilson to give SSU an 8-6 lead. Dalton Phillips would close the game on the mound for SSU, clinching the win.
Joe Loyd (JR/Bidwell, Ohio) got the win for Shawnee State, getting one out in the top of the eighth to end the frame. Dakota Bowen took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work. Dalton Phillips got the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The win improves Shawnee State to 5-5 on the season. Kentucky Christian falls to 0-4.
Shawnee State baseball return to action on Tuesday, February 27 when they return to Chillicothe's VA Memorial Stadium to take on Ohio-Chillicothe in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3:00pm.
