BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
Miles earned a last at-bat win and suffered a final-inning defeat in splitting a doubleheader against Morris College on Tuesday afternoon at historic Rickwood Field. The Golden Bears (6-2) won 5-4 in eight innings in the opener before falling 7-6 in the nightcap.
In the first game, Miles took a 2-1 lead in the first when
Malachi Jeffries doubled in
Myles Wessels before scoring on the back end of a double steal with
Gregory Willis. The Hornets would take a 4-3 lead after five innings but the Golden Bears would tie the game in the sixth on a squeeze play single by
Landon Whitehead that scored
Michael Smith. After both teams went scoreless in the seventh, Miles took advantage of three walks - which was part of 10 free passes and a hit by pitch issued by Morris - to get a walk-off single by Jeffries to score
Trace Spann with the winner.
Darryl Johnson (1-0) allowed just one hit and struck out five in 3 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win.
The Golden Bears looked poised to sweep the doubleheader after scoring three times in the fourth. Wessels bunt single knocked in
Trey Walker before
BoBo Barnes' two-run double scored Spann and
Kaleb Raston for a 6-3 lead. But for the second time in three games, the bullpen imploded in the final inning. Willis, who had pitched solidly in relief into the seventh, got the first two outs with just one runner on base. But a second walk in the inning ended his day.
Marques Dunn (0-1) would let all four of his hitters get on base before Byron Willis came in trying to extinguish the fire. But a bases-loaded walk scored the go-ahead run and the Golden Bears went down in order in the bottom of the inning to close out the stunning defeat.
Miles is back in action this weekend as it opens conference play by hosting a three-game series against LeMoyne-Owen. The teams will play a dobuleheader on Friday beginning at noon and a single game on Saturday starting at noon.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.