ATLANTA, Ga. – The Benedict College baseball team split an SIAC doubleheader with Clark Atlanta University on Saturday.
Benedict took a 4-3 victory in the first game as James Roman pitched a complete game and struck out 10. Clark Atlanta got a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 5-4 victory in the second game.
Benedict moves to 18-9 overall and 8-3 in the SIAC. Clark Atlanta is now 12-17 overall and 6-5 in the SIAC.
The first contest proved to be a pitcher's duel between Roman and Clark Atlanta's Anthony Nettles. Nettles got off to a shaky start, allowing two runs in the first inning on a balk and a bases-loaded walk. He allowed four hits, struck out nine, but walked seven. The Panthers tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the first as Roman allowed one hit, hit one batter, and two runs later scored on a Benedict fielding error.
Roman, who improved to 5-0 on the mound this season, allowed just four hits and did not surrender a walk and gave up just one earned run.
Clark Atlanta took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on another unearned run.
Benedict got a one-out single by Michael Garner in the top of the fourth to score Reinaldo Santiago and tie the game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Garner came home on a passed ball for the winning run. Both teams were held scoreless the rest of the way.
In the second game, Benedict scored first in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Armando Valentin. Clark Atlanta tied the game with a run in the bottom of the first. Benedict pushed across three runs in the third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Yancy Freeny and Andrew McCoy opened the inning with back-to-back triples. McCoy scored on a Clark Atlanta error and David White Jr. later scored on a wild pitch.
Clark Atlanta cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run homer and tied the game at 4-4 on a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Clark Atlanta's Kelechi Anyanwu hit a two-out single through the left side to score a runner from second base for the game-winning run.
Benedict and Clark Atlanta will play the third game in the conference weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
