The Bruins baseball team made history on Saturday as the team defeated Johnson University (TN) 5-3 in the second game of a doubleheader to capture their first win in program history. Riley Ramsey had a three-run double to put the Bruins ahead while Ethan Rogers pitched four strong innings of relief to capture the win.
"After we lost the first game, we took the guys aside and told them it was time for them to stop waiting for things to happen and go out and get the job done," Bruins Head Coach Brent Casteel said. "They took that to heart and they came out and kept pushing in the second game and the Lord blessed us with a win so we're very excited about that."
The Bruins came into the game on the heels of back to back losses in a Tuesday doubleheader at Milligan University. On Saturday, the team returned to their home field where they welcomed the Royals who came into the doubleheader at 4-19 overall.
In game one, the Bruins turned to Henry Wallach on the mound as he finished pitching a complete game with three strikeouts. The Bruins shutout the Royals in the opening innings thanks to some strong defensive play. Unfortunately, the Bruins struggled to get the bats going as the score remained 0-0 heading into the 4th inning.
The Royals then blew the game wide open as a single from Zack Webber drove in two runs to make it 2-0. The Royals weren't done as they went on to score six runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead. The Bruins failed to respond and the Royals took advantage as Matt Williams drove singled in the 5th inning to score two more runs and put Johnson (TN) ahead 8-0. From there, the Bruins couldn't recover as the Royals went on to win 11-1.
In the second game of the day, the Bruins turned to Josh Crane to start on the mound. The Bruins jumped out to a strong start as Riley Ramsey drove in an RBI on a sacrifice fly and Rommel Acosta also drove in a run to help the Bruins lead 2-0 after one.
The Royals came right back as a two-run double by Timothy Howard tied the game at 2-2 in the 3rd inning. The Royals then took the lead in the 3rd thanks to a single from Seth Pressley to make it 3-2.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Bruins were able to load the bases bringing Riley Ramsey to the plate. Ramsey delivered as the freshman hit a two-out double into the left-center field gap to clear the bases and put the Bruins up 5-3.
"Riley has been struggling but he is so talented," Coach Casteel said. "He can do a lot of good things but had just lost his confidence and what a great time for him to get it back."
From there, the Bruins relied on their defense and the arm of Ethan Rogers as the sophomore pitched four shutout innings of relief for the team. The Royals were able to get a runner on in the 5th but a nice double play by Cheo Arias and Conley Burk ended the threat for the inning.
As the Bruins came out for the final inning, they knew they were just three outs away from making history. Zack Webber doubled to begin the inning for the Royals as Johnson (TN) looked to mount one last rally. After back to back outs, the Bruins looked to finish off the game. Timothy Howard hit a hard grounder to Conley Burk at shortstop and the junior rifled the ball across the infield in time as the team stormed the field in celebration after capturing the 5-3 win.
"We know we have to keep pushing," Coach Casteel said. "We have some time off now and we're going to get back to work this next week as we prepare for Toccoa. Our guys will look to keep this heart and mentality as we move forward."
Riley Ramsey led the Bruins on the day as he finished with four RBI's in the win. Next up, the Bruins will have some time off as the team prepares to welcome Toccoa Falls College for a three-game series at Conestee Park. The first of the three-game series will be on April 2.
