MIDWAY, Ky. - Midway baseball had an eventful senior day on Friday, as the Eagles inched closer to locking up a spot in the River States Conference Tournament before sending off a massive class of 20 departing players.
A day after
winning the series opener 6-5, the Eagles closed out a three-game set against Indiana Columbus in dominant fashion, sweeping a doubleheader by the finals of 12-2 and 11-2.
GAME ONE: MIDWAY 12, IU COLUMBUS 2
After recording three RBIs against the Crimson Pride Thursday,
Britten Robinson had an even bigger game in Friday's opener, going 3-for-4 at the plate with five RBIs and three runs scored. Robinson got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the second inning.
That was the first of three homers hit in game one by the Eagles, who took advantage of a strong, outward blowing wind.
Grant Stone hit one in the sixth then
Eli Glasscock ended the game with a three-run shot in the seventh that locked up a run-rule win.
Midway went up 3-0 on a
Josh Halterman double before the Crimson Pride answered back with two runs in the top of the fifth to make it 3-2.
But it wouldn't stay close for long, as sandwiched around Stone's sixth-inning home run were a Robinson RBI single and
Grant Hotchkiss scoring on a pass ball.
Robinson then made it 9-2 with a two-run double in the seventh, which paved the way for Glasscock's closing homer.
On the mound,
Dylan Burton allowed just five hits and two unearned runs in six-and-two-thirds innings. He also had six strikeouts while surrendering just one walk.
GAME TWO: MIDWAY 11, IU COLUMBUS 2
After the teams traded runs -- Glasscock scored Hotchkiss with a sacrifice fly in the first before Lucas Slager had an RBI single for IUC in the second -- the Eagles went back ahead behind two more home runs.
Stone went long for the third game in a row in the second before Payton Henry hit a solo shot in the third to make it a 3-1 game. It would stretch to 5-1 in the fourth on a Glasscock RBI single and wild pitch that scored
Mahrlon Torres.
A four-run fifth then put things away, with
DJ Morain,
Brady Vaughn and Robinson all driving in runs before
Ayden Sciandra scored on a wild pitch.
The scoring would conclude with a two-run double by Torres in the sixth.
The group was supported by a quality start by
Blake Kincaid, who allowed one run and four hits and struck out eight batters, one shy of his career high, over four-and-a-third innings.
SENIOR DAY
The 20 seniors honored after the second game were
Brady Alexander,
Tommy Henninger, Hotchkiss,
Cade McKee, Vaughn, Halterman,
Jackson Lee, Robinson,
Philip Berberich,
Shane Taylor,
Barrett McGill,
Zane Patton, Sciandra,
Jesse Komoroski, Kincaid, Burton, Morain,
Dalton Soergel,
Joshua Plasencia and Henry.
The group has combined to set numerous program records with several having a hand in the program's first ever River States Conference regular season championship in 2023.
PLAYOFF OUTLOOK
Though not clinching a spot in the six-team River States Conference Tournament outright, Midway will enter the final weekend of play in good shape to do so.
With the weekend sweep, the Eagles are now in a fifth-place tie with Brescia, both teams at 10-11 in the conference. The Eagles will travel to face the Bearcats in Owensboro next weekend.
The Eagles would clinch a spot in the tournament with one win or one loss by both West Virginia Tech and Rio Grande next weekend. They are two games ahead of Tech and Rio in the standings and hold the tie-breaker over both.
Before the Brescia series, Midway will host NAIA No. 16-ranked Cumberlands at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
