The Shepherd Rams faced off against the Urbana University Blue Knights in an early week Mountain Conference showdown in which the Rams showed they could not only preserve a win, but rally in the late innings to earn the victory.
In game one Jacob Carney stole home on a throwing error to give Shepherd the early 1-0 lead. Urbana would not stay down for long scoring their first run of the game in the top of the second. In a big second inning the Rams added four runs with RBI’s from Mike Brown, Carney, and Tre Porter giving the rams a 5-1 lead after two.
The Rams and Knights traded runs in the fifth and Shepherd found themselves with a slim 7-5 lead heading in to the sixth. The Rams found the spark they needed to put the game away in the bottom half of the sixth when JJ Sarty hit a grand slam over the left field wall giving the Rams the final score of 11-7.
Porter led the Rams at the plate going 2-3 with 4 RBI’s and scoring twice himself. AJ Stead earned the victory for the Rams bringing his season record to 4-1.
Game two was an offensive duel in which neither team could pull away and the lead switched hands four times before game’s end. The Blue Knights drew first blood in the top of the first inning putting the Rams in a quick 2-0 hole. The Rams scored four over the next two innings with RBI’s from Carney, Sarty, Brandon Kirk, and Daniel Heleine giving the Rams the two run advantage at 4 -2 heading into the middle innings.
The Blue Knights scored two in the fourth to tie the game at four. A RBI double from Ron Farley in the bottom of the fourth gave Shepherd the 5-4 lead. The lead went back to Urbana in the fifth when they scored 2 to give them a 6-5 lead. The Rams however landed the final blow in the eighth when they scored 4 including a homerun by Heleine to put the cherry on top of a hard earned 9-6 victory.
Designated hitter, Daniel Heleine against Urbana
Sarty led the Rams at the plate going 3-3 with a RBI and two runs scored. Sam Crater added his fourth victory to his undefeated season with the win.
The Rams face Wheeling Jesuit University Saturday April 16 in a double header at 1 and 3 p.m.