COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers used a pair of home runs to build a 7-1 lead and held on to take an 8-6 victory over Albany State in the first game of an SIAC baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Tiger Field.
The two teams combined for 11 home runs in the second game, with the Golden Rams getting three home runs and seven RBIs from Ryan McClendon to win an 18-16 slugfest in the second game.
Benedict moves to 13-7 overall and 3-2 in the SIAC. Albany State goes to 5-17 overall and 4-1 in the SIAC.
After the Golden Rams struck first in the opening inning with an RBI double, the Tigers put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first.
Robert Troiano III had an RBI double and
Reinaldo Santiago had a two-run homer over right field. Benedict added two more runs in the second inning on a two-run double by
Armando Valentin to make it 6-1. Troiano opened the bottom of the third with a solo homer to left field for a 7-1 lead.
The Golden Rams got three runs in the sixth on a solo homer by McClendon and a two-run shot by Bryant Prather.
Andrew McCoy added an RBI single in the sixth inning for an 8-4 lead. The Golden Rams added a pair of runs in the seventh to cut the lead, but a groundout ended the game.
James Roman (2-0) picked up the win on the mound.
In the second contest,
Dantrell Lucas hit a grand slam in the second inning to give Benedict a 4-2 lead. McClendon had a three-run homer in the third inning to give Albany State a 5-4 lead.
Benedict scored three runs in the fourth inning for a 9-7 lead, with
David White Jr. driving in a pair of runs on a double down the third-base line.
Albany State scored nine runs in the fifth inning, hitting four home runs, for a 16-9 lead. Benedict chipped away, getting a two-run homer by
Myles Snype in the fifth, a solo homer by White in the sixth, a two-run homer by Santiago in the fifth, and another solo homer by Snype to make it 16-15.
Albany State padded the lead by scoring two runs in the top of the seventh on a Benedict error and a wild pitch. The Tigers committed six errors in the second contest.
Santiago added an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 18-16.
Benedict and Albany State will play the third game in the weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
