ALBANY, Ga. – Kentucky State baseball asserted dominance with a commanding 14-4 victory over Miles in seven innings during game one, but faced a heart-wrenching defeat in game two, falling 6-5 to the Spring Hill Badgers in a ten innings battle at the 2024 SIAC Baseball Championship.
Game One: Kentucky State 14 Miles 4, 7 innings
A massive nine-run second inning and five run third inning led to a 14-4 victory over Miles and kept the Championship run alive for the Thorobreds.
In the second inning, Kentucky State's Bakari Rush reached base on a fielder's choice, leading to an unearned run as Cedric Poellnitz crossed the plate due to a fielding error. Rush later capitalized on a wild pitch, advancing along with teammates to extend the lead to 2-0. The momentum continued as Kelton Saylor's single to left center drove in two more runs, propelling Kentucky State to a 4-0 advantage. The onslaught persisted with additional RBIs from Poellnitz and Treyvon Fletcher, widening the gap to 8-0. Preston Jones sealed the second inning with a double, bringing the score to 9-0 in favor of Kentucky State.
In the third inning, Kentucky State continued their offensive onslaught.as Poellnitz was hit by a pitch, bringing in another run to extend the lead to 10-0. Fletcher's sacrifice fly further padded the lead, as an error by the shortstop allowed another run to score, making it 11-0 in favor of Kentucky State. The inning concluded with a powerful hit from Danzel Lucas, driving in three more runs to solidify Kentucky State's dominance.
Miles scored three runs in the fourth and one run at the top of the seventh but would be run ruled in seven innings with the Thorobreds taking a 14-4 win.
Game Two: Kentucky State 5 Spring Hill 6, 10 innings
The Thorobreds met the Spring Hill Badgers in the second game of the day and struck first on a sacrifice fly from Collier Higgs that sent Saylor across home plate at the top of the first.
Jones singled into right field to send Poellnitz home and score the lone run of the third inning.
Saylor scored at the top of the fifth on wild pitch to give the Thorobreds a 3-1 advantage. The Badgers responded with two runs at the bottom of the inning to tie the game 3-3 through five.
Lucas singled through the right side to send Fletcher home and tie the game at 4-4 at the top of the eighth. Saylor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Thorobreds a 5-4 lead through eight innings.
At the bottom of the ninth the Badgers tied the game 5-5 sending the game into extra innings where they would score another run in the ninth to defeat the Thorobreds 5-6 ending the Championship run for Kentucky State.
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