Cesar Morillo (14) stands on first base after getting a hit during the Knights’ win over CIU on Saturday afternoon at Clark Field. Morillo had eight hits over the three games in the series.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Isaiah Martin fouls off a pitch.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Tyler Barfield (12) throws a pitch. Barfield pitched 6.1 innings of two-run ball and had eight strikeouts.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Aiden Wilson (10) rounds third and heads home to score.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —The St. Andrews Knights baseball team was able to win their three-game series with the Columbia International University (CIU) Rams with a split of a doubleheader (loss in first game 5-3 and win second game 3-2 after taking Friday’s series opener 4-0) on Saturday afternoon at Clark Field. St. Andrews now is 17-11 (9-8 in conference games) on the season after the series while the Rams are 18-15 (7-11 against conference opponents).
Head Coach Andy Fox likes the way his team is playing as a whole right now, having gone 5-2 since their series loss to Bluefield two weeks ago. He thought they had a legitimate chance for a sweep over the Rams after allowing five runs over a two-inning span in the first game on Saturday but was still happy to pick up a series victory.
“We’re playing well right now, the one disappointing thing from the weekend was I felt like in game two we kind of gave them that one after having a lead late,” Fox said. “You give me a series win every single weekend I’ll take it, just got to keep this momentum going and keep rolling.”
In game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, after two scoreless innings (with one hit) to start the contest, the Knights would get on the board first with two runs in their half of the third. Cesar Morillo and Garrett Hamby would both get singles to start the inning before Aiden Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice (Morillo advanced to third while Hamby was out at second). Josh Zambito then got Morillo in and advanced Wilson to second on a popout to give St. Andrews the lead. Alfredo Jimenez Jr. would then drive in Wilson on an RBI single to increase the Knights’ lead to 2-0.
The Rams would answer back with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth. Britton Morris led off the frame with a single while Bradley Garland would draw a walk to get the Rams runners on first and second with one out. A two-RBI double from Maurice Gomez would even the score at two runs apiece.
The game would then remain scoreless for over four innings. St. Andrews would finally get the walk off victory in the bottom of the 10th frame. Zambito would get a two-out single before being lifted for a pinch runner in Kade Bell. Jimenez Jr. then got a hard hit single that would result in a fielding error by the Rams and allow Bell to go all the way from first to home and win the game.
Jimenez Jr. went 3-5 from the plate in the game with two RBIs, both of which were team highs. Morillo went 2-4 with a run scored to join Jimenz Jr. as Knights with multiple hits in the game. Morillo had a terrific series with eight hits over the three games.
Jimenez Jr. allowed his trust in God to deliver the walk off hit. While he had a terrific afternoon at the plate, he humbly gave credit to all of his teammates after delivering the walk off hit and was thankful he had an opportunity to deliver a win.
“Honestly just putting everything out of my hands and put it in God’s hands, seeing what I can do and seeing a pitch I can hit,” Jimenez Jr. said. “There’s nine guys out there it’s not just me, it could’ve been absolutely anybody I lucked out and it was my day today.”
Morillo credited the series win to the team staying together throughout the extras and continuing to fight. He gave a lot of the credit to the terrific defense the Knights played and especially was proud of Jonathan Foster, who came in and gave the team over three innings of scoreless ball in relief.
“We stayed together, we had great energy, we were competing in the box and put up great at bats,” Morillo said. “Our defense was outrageous, Jonathan Foster did a good job when he came in.”
Pitching wise, Tyler Barfield started the game and gave the Knights 6.1 innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts against four walks. Foster pitched 3.2 innings in relief and allowed just one hit while striking out two.
The Knights will take a break from conference play and remain at home on Tuesday afternoon for a doubleheader with Voorhees University. The games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.