PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The University of Pikeville baseball team continued to impress in Mid-South Conference play on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader at Shawnee State to win its second straight league series. The Bears took the opener 6-3 before earning a 4-1 win in the nightcap.
Bryce Carden (5-1) earned the win in the opener after scattering five hits for three runs with four strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings pitched. Aaron Hedgeock improved to 3-0 on the mound with the game-two win after allowing a run on three hits with four strikeouts.
Logan Sales had a big day as well out of the bullpen, picking up a pair of saves. He threw 1 1/3 shutout frames with one hit and two strikeouts in game one, followed by an inning of shutout pitching with one hit allowed in game two.
Catcher Justin Beatty was the standout at the plate, going a combined 5 for 7 with three RBIs and a sacrifice fly.
After going into the fourth inning tied 2-2 in the opener, UPIKE got an RBI single from Connor Osborne and Mike Peluffo later hustled home after Josh Bailey reached safely on an error. From there the Bears never relinquished the lead, instead going up by as many as three runs at 5-2 on DiThomas' RBI single in the seventh.
Game two was dominated by the Bears after a slow start in the first inning, outhitting SSU 13-4 on their way to a 4-1 win. Shawnee State led 1-0 briefly in the first before the Bears answered with Jay Vincent's RBI single in the fourth.
From there, UPIKE added a run to its lead in the fifth inning on Beatty's sac fly, followed by two more insurance runs in the seventh.
Up Next
UPIKE hits the road to Rio Grande (Ohio) for a single game at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Â
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UPIKE 6, Shawnee State 3
SS Jacob DiThomas: 3-5, 2 RBIs, R
CF Josh Bailey: 2-4, 2 R, BB, 3 SB
C Justin Beatty: 2-5, RBI
P Bryce Carden: W, 7.2 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 4 K, 3 BB
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UPIKE 4, Shawnee State 1
C Justin Beatty: 3-3, 2 RBIs, SF
2B Erik Manning: 2-4, RBI
CF Josh Bailey: 2-3, 2 R, SF, SB
3B Travis Haen: 2-4, R
P Aaron Hedgecock: W, 6 IP, R, 3 H, 4 K
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-UPIKE-
