MOREHEAD, Ky. - Casey Branham slugged two home runs and had six RBI, while Garrick Whittle pitched five shutout innings, as the Blue team outdueled the Gold 10-9 in game three of the Morehead State baseball blood bowl series.
The Blue team staved off elimination as the Gold team now leads 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. The losing team will donate blood to the Kentucky Blood Center.
"I was really happy with the start from (Garrick) Whittle, especially with the Blue team's backs against the wall," said coach Jay Sorg. " He had confidence attached to every pitch he made. Casey had two big swings with runners on base. I thought both teams did a good job of battling. Both teams had a chance to give up but fought until the final pitch."
The Bue team took a 4-0 lead in the fourth but then saw the Gold team rally to tie the contest 4-4 in the seventh. Blue responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the eighth before Gold rallied again with five runs, including a go-ahead two-run homer from Ryan Connor, to give the Gold a 9-8 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Justin Messinger and Bud Morton singled and Cole Cleveland tripled to lead the Blue to the come-from-behind victory.
Whittle tossed ther first five innings and did not allow a run while recording eight strikeouts. Branham crushed two multi-RBI home runs.
Messinger and Morton each had three hits for the Blue. The Gold team got another three-hit day from Taylor Davis as he upped his series' total at the plate to 8-of-13. Travis Redmon and Connor had two hits apiece for the Gold.
Game four is set for 4 p.m. Monday at Allen Field. Trey Smoth will look to pitch the Gold team to the series' title while Josh Schneider gets the nod for the Blue.
