In the vast majority of sports, the team that does the so-called 'little things' the best usually emerges victorious more often than not.

With an important doubleheader in front of the Shawnee State baseball program to close the regular season, the Bears, facing an opportunity to nab a series victory in front of it heading into Saturday's affairs, did one better than that against its archrival by executing on the so-called 'little things.'

Rob Ehlers' group didn't commit a single defensive error in 34 defensive chances Saturday afternoon against the Rio Grande RedStorm baseball program, while starting pitchers Jakobe Reese and Eric Oakes delivered solid performances with relief pitchers Carson Wireman, Brock Kitchen, Evan Hood and Trent Tice helping to shut the door behind them in Shawnee State's 6-3 and 4-3 victories over Rio Grande Saturday evening at Bob Evans Field in Rio Grande -- nabbing a series sweep over the RedStorm.

In collecting both contests in Saturday's doubleheader as well as the series sweep with a 5-3 victory Saturday as well, Shawnee State (23-19, 17-7 River States Conference) notched its fourth series sweep over Rio Grande in the last six series meetings between the two baseball programs.

Saturday's victories also moved Shawnee State's winning streak to nine consecutive games -- which marks the first time in 23 years that Shawnee State has won nine consecutive games. The Bears accomplished that feat in Pat Rigsby's last full season as head coach of the SSU baseball program, going on its own nine-game tear from Feb. 23 to March 11, 2001.

Game 1

Shawnee State, who reached the board first in the top half of the third inning on an error to take a 1-0 advantage, struck again in the fourth as a leadoff walk by Zach Gaspar was followed by back-to-back singles by Angelo Castanos and Kyle Eslick -- the latter being of the run-producing variety -- to give the Bears a 2-0 cushion through four innings complete.

Rio Grande answered back in the fourth frame as a solo home run by Angel Cruz and a RBI sacrifice bunt knotted the score at two apiece after four innings of play, but Carson Wireman, who came in to relieve Reese midway through the fourth inning, allowed just one hit and struck out four batters over the next three-and-two-thirds innings of work.

With Wireman continuing to throw dots on the mound, it was just a matter of time before Shawnee State broke through again -- and in the sixth frame, the Bears did just that.

Following a leadoff single by Castanos, nine-hole hitter Ryan Scott started a two-out rally with his RBI single to drive Castanos in, and Nolan Tressler and Hunter Warner followed with walks to load the bases. Two errors then resulted in three additional runs scoring in the frame, giving the Bears a 6-2 advantage after six innings of action -- which SSU ultimately kept for good.

Game 2

Getting the start in Game 2, Shawnee State pitcher Eric Oakes did a masterful job as a two-way performer for the Bears. Oakes' two-out double down the left field line scored Diego Mendoza standing up to plate the contest's first run, and on the bump, the senior cruised through five innings, striking out six batters while allowing just two hits and one earned run in the second affair.

With SSU ahead by a 1-0 margin after an inning of work, the Bears continued to add on as Hunter Warner's single was followed by a walk by Tyler Lund and a fielder's choice that scored Warner in the second frame -- while Oakes again came up large at the plate in the third with an RBI single that scored Noah Sniadach, giving SSU a 3-0 lead.

After answering a Rio Grande run in the fourth frame with one of its own in the top half of the sixth inning on a passed ball that scored Zach Gaspar, Shawnee State gave up a pair of runs on an RBI single and a groundout -- allowing Rio Grande to cut the SSU advantage to a 4-3 count.

However, Trent Tice's efforts proved to be more than enough.

The freshman, pitching the final inning-and-two-thirds of the contest, effectively limited Rio Grande's comeback trail as Tice retired the last five batters that he faced en route to picking up his first career save as a college pitcher -- and giving Shawnee State the sweep as a result.

Additional

Eric Oakes' (3-for-7, double, two RBI) effort between both contests, as well as Angelo Castanos' 2-for-5 outing in Game 1 and Nolan Tressler's 2-for-4 output with a double in Game 2, led SSU offensively. Kyle Eslick and Tyler Lund each went 1-for-3 in Game 1 while Hunter Warner and Luis Mejia each went 1-for-3 in Game 2, with Eslick notching an RBI and Warner scoring a run in their performances. Ryan Scott went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Game 1 while Noah Sniadach added in a hit in Game 2 to round out the winning cause.

Defensively, Shawnee State committed just one error in the series in 56 total defensive chances.

Shawnee State (23-19, 17-7 River States Conference) will play at Indiana-Kokomo in the upcoming River States Conference Play-In Series to determine seeding for the upcoming River States Conference Tournament, which will be held at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe. Dates and times will be announced in the near future. 

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