COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Paine College Lions baseball team fought hard but ultimately were defeated by the No. 1 seed out of the Western division, Stillman College, 14-4, in the second game of the day at the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.
The Lions, fourth seed in the SIAC East, grabbed the initial lead from a single and three walks. Right fielder
Adam Martin laid down a RBI bunt to make the score 2-0. In the third, shortstop
Brad Doebler brought two more home with a two-out double.
The Tigers, after falling behind Paine College 4-0 following three innings, rolled off 14 unanswered runs to end the game via conference run rule in the bottom of the seventh in the opening round of the SIAC Baseball Championships at Capital City Park Thursday afternoon.
Stillman opened what would be the final stanza ahead by one run. Right fielder Paul Winterbottom started the action with a leadoff homer, then doubled and drove in another run in his second at-bat. E.J. Perry, Lucas Bigler, and Nick Vitale each batted in runs. Defensive miscues by Paine (one error, one passed ball, and one balk) produced three more runs to account for a nine-run seventh inning.
The home team reduced the lead to one after a three-run fourth. Shortstop Fernando Tanaka pushed Winterbottom, who reached on a leadoff double, across, then scored himself off an Albert Rafael sacrifice fly. Vitale sandwiched a run between Winterbottom's and Tanaka's on a Paine passed ball, one of five on the day.
Stillman added solo runs in the fifth and sixth on a Tanaka sacrifice and Bigler's double.
Hunter Hood went the distance for the Tigers to pick up the win. Settling down after allowing four runs, three walks and six hits in the first three innings, he surrendered only one walk and no hits the rest of the way. Paine's
Juan Berger, effective through three innings, took the loss after giving up Stillman's fifth run.
Winterbottom (4), Bigler (3), Tanaka (2), Perry (2), and Pablo De Armas (2) each had multiple-RBI days at the plate. Paine's Martin had two RBIs.
Paine will contend with Tuskegee in the elimination bracket on Friday at 9 a.m., while Stillman will play Claflin, the 4-3 winner in the tournament's opening game, tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Score by Innings R H E
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Paine College....... 202 000 0 - 4 6 3
Stillman............ 000 311 9 - 14 15 0
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