The baseball program at Shawnee State has enjoyed some outstanding days at the plate offensively.
However, it'd be hard to find a pair of games that topped what the Bears were able to do Friday evening in a pair of Mid-South Conference Opening Round contests.
Needing production following a sweep last weekend, SSU produced in a big way by blasting an astonishing 10 home runs out of the Egnew Park grounds at Lindsey Wilson, with Howie Rodriguez hitting a grand slam and a three-run homer to lead the Bears to a 17-11 victory in Game 2 and Jacob Kline homering once each in both games to tie the program record for most home runs in a single season in Columbia, Ky.
Shawnee State, who now sits with a 21-24 overall record, overcame the 8-7 defeat to post 17 hits on their 17 runs in the Game 2 win to force the third and deciding matchup. The Bears now have 54 home runs for the season as a team -- accomplishing 18.5 percent of their season total in Friday's contests alone.
Game 1
Santiago gets ball rolling; Kline, Coleman add to it
With the first contest moving quickly to the third inning, Javier Santiago ultimately set the tone for the day's events with his solo blast to left field to start off the scoring.
Continuing to hold a 1-0 advantage thanks to a strong first six frames by Kyle Wisniewski -- who gave up just two hits through six complete -- the Bears continued to grow on their lead as the middle innings came to pass.
Following a walk on a full count by Danny McGuire, and a wild pitch which allowed McGuire to move to second base, Jacob Kline launched a two-run homer to straightaway center field to add to Shawnee State's lead, and put the Bears up by a 3-0 margin. That margin then was increased to a 5-0 count when Damion Coleman, following a single by Levi Jones, rocketed his own two-run bomb to center field.
Unfortunately, the lead didn't last. Three Lindsey Wilson singles and a three-run infield error ultimately proved to be fatal as the Blue Raiders put together a six-run seventh to take the lead, then added insurance onto their 6-5 cushion with a two-run double by Kelvin Llanos to put LWC up by a 8-5 margin.
Not out of the equation by any means, Shawnee State proved that in a hurry in the top of the ninth frame, with Noah Sniadach and George Duran posting solo home runs on back-to-back at-bats with one out in the ninth to pull SSU within 8-7. However, a fielder's choice and a fly out to left field ended the SSU threat, forcing Shawnee State to settle for the 8-7 setback in Game 1.
Game 2
Rodriguez puts lightning rod into SSU offense in Game 2
In Game 2, Howie Rodriguez wasted little time messing around.
Following a single by McGuire and a walk by Kline, Rodriguez took a 1-0 pitch on his first at-bat and drilled the pitch over the left field fence to give Shawnee State a quick 3-0 advantage following the opening half inning.
Santiago adds second home run
While Lindsey Wilson answered with a two-run homer by Austin Rayno that cut SSU's lead to a 3-2 deficit after a full inning of work, the Bears answered with a flurry.
Following two runs in the second by the Bears, and another in the fourth off of Santiago's second solo home run of the series, the Bears enjoyed a 6-2 lead before the Blue Raiders tied the score off of two-run homers by Nico Martinez and Tyler Maskill in the fourth and fifth frames.
Kline crucial late; ties program record
However, Shawnee State found its groove again in the sixth frame.
After singles by Charles Douglas and McGuire set the table, it was Kline -- again -- who started a rally.
The junior infielder's base hit scored Douglas, starting a four-run top half that saw Coleman add an RBI base knock of his own with Levi Jones adding in two runs on his own well-hit base knock to put the Bears up by a 10-6 tally.
Lindsey Wilson, again, proved to be a pest as the Blue Raiders answered with four runs of their own following Menrath's second home run of the game. Following a scoreless seventh, Kline came back up to the dish and ripped yet another bomb -- sending a solo blast to straightaway center field on a 2-2 count to begin the eighth frame while giving the Bears the lead back, 11-10.
By hitting his 19th home run of the season, Kline tied a 21-year old program record set in 2000 by three different players -- Brian Harrison, Brad Beale, and Brandon Doss -- when they each hit 19 home runs.
Six-run ninth finishes off barrage
Once again, Lindsey Wilson found a way to knot the game up, tying the score at 11 on a wild pitch.
However, Shawnee State -- led by Coleman and Rodriguez -- made sure that no further rallies were to be had by the Blue Raiders.
In a frame where the Bears sent 11 batters to the plate, Coleman wasted no time driving the ball out of the ballpark, drilling an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence. Santiago then walked, stole second base following Coleman, and scored on a base hit by Douglas.
Score: 13-11 Shawnee State.
Rodriguez, however, wanted to make another dent on the scoreboard. With a walk and a hit by pitch loading the bases, the cleanup hitter utilized a favorable hitter's count (3-1) to launch one final ball over the center field fence and punctuate the scoring with a grand slam, finalizing the effort and putting Lindsey Wilson out of reach for good in a 17-11 victory.
Additional
Duran (3-for-7, home run, RBI, two runs scored), McGuire (3-for-8, double, four runs scored), Kline (4-for-10, two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored), Jones (2-for-6, two RBI, two runs scored), Kyle Boggs (3-for-7), and Coleman (3-for-9, two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored) all hit at least .333 or better over the two games.
Along with them, Rodriguez (2-for-6, two home runs, seven RBI, three runs scored in Game 2) and Santiago (2-for-8, two home runs, two RBI, three runs scored in both games) rounded out a complete offensive attack.
Shawnee State (21-24) will face Lindsey Wilson at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT Saturday evening at Egnew Park in Columbia, Ky. Saturday's winner advances to Bowling Green for the Mid-South Conference Tournament, beginning Thursday, May 6.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
