After singles by Will Cantey and J. Bitner with one down in the first, the floodgates opened. Jacob Bisharat singled home Cantey. After a balk pushed both runners into scoring position, Michael Archie doubled both home. With two away, Clifton Orr blasted a three-run round-tripper to left that plated Archie and Max Davenport for a 6-0 advantage. It marked Orr’s second home run of the tournament. 

An error allowed Eli Snelson to reach in the top of the second. After a walk to Cantey, Bisharat launched a three-run homer to left for a 9-0 margin.   

Trailing 10-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Golden Rams broke through with five runs. Chase Karn got things going with a one-out single to left. He was erased on a fielder’s choice for the second out. Nicholas Hernandez walked to put two on. Malik Bell reached on a fielder’s choice. An error was made on the play, allowing Lachlan Ross to score. Hill Corley doubled in two before Pierce Thomas registered a two-RBI base hit up the middle, slicing the deficit to five, 10-5.

After singles by Will Cantey and J. Bitner with one down in the first, the floodgates opened. Jacob Bisharat singled home Cantey. After a balk pushed both runners into scoring position, Michael Archie doubled both home. With two away, Clifton Orr blasted a three-run round-tripper to left that plated Archie and Max Davenport for a 6-0 advantage. It marked Orr’s second home run of the tournament. 

An error allowed Eli Snelson to reach in the top of the second. After a walk to Cantey, Bisharat launched a three-run homer to left for a 9-0 margin.   

Trailing 10-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Golden Rams broke through with five runs. Chase Karn got things going with a one-out single to left. He was erased on a fielder’s choice for the second out. Nicholas Hernandez walked to put two on. Malik Bell reached on a fielder’s choice. An error was made on the play, allowing Lachlan Ross to score. Hill Corley doubled in two before Pierce Thomas registered a two-RBI base hit up the middle, slicing the deficit to five, 10-5.

Despite the 12-5 score, Albany State continued to battle. Bell led off the eighth with a single and a base knock by Corley put two aboard. When Thomas was hit by a pitch, it loaded the bags. With one down, L. Fisher registered one RBI as Bell trotted home. Karn followed him up with a one RBI base on balls. A fielding error allowed Thomas to score, pulling the top seed within four at 12-8 while forcing a pitching change. The Golden Rams tacked on two more runs with a Tyler McConnell single while sending the game into the ninth at just a three-run margin. 

Miles quickly countered by plating three runs in the top of the ninth for a 15-10 lead. Bitner singled in Snelson. Moments later, Bitner scored on a passed ball and a walk to William Johnson pushed across Bisharat for the five-run margin. 

Albany State threatened with a pair of hits in the ninth, but T. Allen closed the door on the Golden Rams. 

For the game, Long tossed 7.1 innings and had seven strikeouts to pick up the win. J. Reddell worked 6.2 innings in the loss. He struck out five batters.  

Archie and Bisharat each led the way with four RBI in the win while Orr had three. Archie and Bitner totaled three hits apiece in the victory. 

Corley, McConnell and Thomas had two RBI apiece in the loss. Bell and Corley each crossed home twice for the Golden Rams.  

Miles improves to 27-23 on the season while Albany State falls to 32-15. 

Miles advances to the Division II bracket championship, which will take place Friday at 5 p.m. Albany State returns to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., against the winner of today’s Division II consolation bracket game (5 p.m.) between No. 3 Bluefield State and No. 4 Kentucky State.

The tournament games pits NCAA DII bracket champion and the NAIA bracket champion as the final two teams left standing advance to a winner take all championship game to determine the national champion. 

Tournament Information: https://blackcollegenines.com/2022cws/

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