SE Kentucky News

Romasanta grand slam lifts baseball to wild series win at CIU

After his team the bases loaded twice in the last three innings of a 7-5 loss in the first game of a doubleheader against Columbia International, Logan Romasanta wasn't interested in a repeat performance.

Romasanta completed an improbable, six-run seventh inning by lining a grand slam over the left field wall, as the Union baseball team rallied for a 9-6 win to earn a doubleheader split and series win on the road on Saturday.

The win moved Union to 15-5-1 overall and 6-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs have won all three series they've played in the AAC thus far this season.

GAME ONE

Tied for the NAIA lead in home runs entering the day, Mendoza continued his torrid pace with a two-run blast in the first inning, his 13th of the season.

Facing Mendoza in his first at-bat has been a particularly terrifying prospect for pitchers, as this marked the third consecutive game and fifth time this season he's homered in the first inning.

That would be the only long-ball opportunity he'd get the rest of the game, as the Rams walked him in each of his next five at-bats, the fourth even coming with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

It proved to be the right strategy, as the Bulldog offense couldn't take advantage of late opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and ninth innings and stranding 17 runners for the game.

Union pitchers struggled with control for the second straight game, surrendering 11 walks after giving up 14 in an 18-16 win Friday.

The Bulldogs, who lost despite a 14-5 edge in hits, had five players with multiple hits, led by Sammy Serrano, who went 3-for-5 with a run scored.

GAME TWO

Things looked exceedingly grim heading into the final at-bat, as a four-run CIU sixth, highlighted by a three-run Rafael Gonzales double, gave the Rams a 6-3 lead against a Bulldog team that hadn't so much as had a baserunner since the third inning.

But a leadoff error opened the door, and RBI singles by Hazel Martinez and Colton Stegman cut the deficit to 6-5. Stegman eventually reached third after Mendoza was hit by a pitch and Luke Powell, who followed up a seven-RBI performance Friday with a two-run home run in the third inning of game two, was walked.

And with two outs, Romasanta, who had just one home run prior to the at-bat, roped a line drive to left field that cleared the wall and the Bulldogs escaped with the win after Dalton Kottmer worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Original source can be found here.