BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—After winning 2-1 in 10 innings in game one, the No. 6 Birmingham-Southern baseball team lost 11-2 to No. 14 Rhodes in game two today at Striplin Field.
The Panthers moved to 25-7-1 overall and 12-4-1 in the Southern Athletic Association, and the Lynx moved to 24-10 overall and 11-5 in the SAA. The teams will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
BSC hosted its third-annual Mitchell's Place Day at the Park today, wearing commemorative jerseys which were sold to benefit Mitchell's Place, a facility in Birmingham that strives to provide comprehensive, research-based, educational, social and therapeutic services for children, adolescents, and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental disabilities in a deeply caring environment. Students from Mitchell's Place threw out the first pitch of the first game, and the team also collected donations.
In game one, BSC scored in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by senior Jacob Mayfield, bringing junior Matt Brown across the plate after he reached on an error. Rhodes tied it up in the top of the seventh on an Andrew Wallis RBI double.
With the score still knotted at 1-1 in the 10th, senior Brandon Marino led off with a walk, followed by a Brown sacrifice bunt to move him to second. After junior Taylor McCrackenwalked, prompting a Lynx pitching change, Mayfield was hit by a pitch to load the bases with only one out on the board. Sophomore Zach Wingate then singled through the left side for the game-winning walk-off RBI.
Senior Blake Stevens (7-1) threw the complete game, giving up six hits and one earned run while walking only one batter and striking out 11.
The Rhodes offense was prolific in the nightcap, with the Lynx scoring once in the top of the second before putting up seven in the top of the third. Rhodes hurler Blake Glauben worked his way out of trouble twice after that, retiring the final batter in both the bottom of the third and fifth innings when the Panthers had the bases loaded. Rhodes added three more runs in the top of the fifth before the Panthers finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI from sophomore Jack Rhodes, and a sacrifice fly-out by Mayfield in the bottom of the seventh cut it to 11-2 before the game was over.
Sophomore Ryan Gaines (5-3) started on the mound for BSC and took the loss, giving up seven hits and six earned runs. Five more Panther pitchers would see time on the mound before the end of the game.