Albany State Takes Last Two Games of Weekend Series

March 10, 2018

ALBANY- Albany State University captured a doubleheader sweep over Division II baseball powerhouse University of Tampa Saturday afternoon at West Campus Field.

The Golden Rams rolled to a 12-4 win in the nine inning opener and blanked the Spartans 3-0 in the nightcap. Tampa, ranked #2 in the NCAA Collegiate Baseball poll and #8 in the latest NCBWA national poll, entered the weekend set 10-0 all-time against the Golden Rams and were coming off a 7-1 win over ASU on Friday.
The Rams turned the tables on Saturday, as they never trailed in either contest. Roman Oliu improved to 3-0 as a starter in opener while the nightcap shutout went to Michael Reddick who lifts his mark to 2-1 on the season.

Albany State 12 Tampa 4

The Golden Rams used a six run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning to power past the Spartans in game one.

ASU put up a run in their first at bat and added two in the bottom half of the third for a 3-0 lead. Tampa got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning when a single from Cole Perry scored Danny Maynard from second base. All nine of the batting order would come up as the Rams charged back in their half of the inning, scoring 6 runs on 3 hits and one Tampa error.

With one out and the bases loaded Tyler Morris was brought home after Quantico Dodson-Williams was hit by a pitch. The Rams got another run (Theodore Smith) when Kelvin Wimbish reached on a throwing error from short. Riliani Familia then stepped in and smacked a grand slam to left field, giving the Rams a 9-1 cushion at the close of the inning.

Both teams went scoreless in the fifth but the Rams put up a run in each of their turns the rest of the way. The Spartans (15-5) added a run in the eighth and got two more on a 2RBI homer from Darren Miller in their final at bat.

Albany State 3 Tampa 0

While game one featured a lot of offense, pitching and defense dictated the flow of the Rams' 3-0 shutout in game two.

Both game two starters turned in impressive performances from the mound. The Spartans' Keven Pimentel surrendered the game's three runs, but kept in close for his team, striking out 10 over 5 innings of work. For ASU Michael Reddick pitched six complete, giving up only two hits while fanning six batters. Reddick efficiently kept the Spartan batters off balance and only had two innings, the fifth and sixth, where a single runner was left on base.

In the second inning the Rams got two runs. Nic Griggs, who doubled to lead off the inning, was driven in on single from Ryan McClendon. McClendon would steal second and later advance to third when Smith crossed home plate after a wild pitch.

Familia's heroics came calling again, this time when he led off the top of the fifth with a solo dinger, bringing his total to a team best 4 on the season.

The Golden Rams (8-6) will take the field again on Tuesday on the road at Georgia College. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00pm.