3/26/2008 - Roadrunners Sweep Northeast Texas
AC Moves to 5-5 with Wins
Before Wednesday’s doubleheader with Northeast Texas, Angelina College
head baseball coach Jeff Livin found himself facing a couple of
dilemmas concerning his starting lineups. Leading hitter and right
fielder Keith Prestridge was suffering a nagging back injury and
couldn’t go. Scheduled Game 2 starter Trey Rackel, also dealing with a
nagging injury, would miss his allotted start as well.
Livin made his decisions, and his Roadrunners responded beautifully.
Michael Padgett took over in right for Prestridge and proceeded to go
5-for-8, driving in four runs with two doubles and a triple in the
series. Corey Benevides, who pitched the second game of the Panola
series just four days ago, took the ball in the nightcap and gave
Livin and his teammates nearly seven strong innings. The end result
was a 12-8, 10-7 sweep of the Eagles, giving the ‘Runners a four-game
win streak and a 5-5 record in conference play.
“I thought our offense showed a lot of improvement in its overall
approach,” Livin said after his team pounded out a combined 22 runs on
29 hits. “The guys did what Rich (Martinez, AC hitting coach) has been
preaching all season in using the whole field.”
Ryan Kelley, whose defensive prowess in the Panola series earned him
due notice, finished the twin bill with six hits in seven official
at-bats. Kelley drove in five runs on the day and scored four times
himself. Matt Thielepape went 4-for-8 with an RBI; and Jake Rowell
added a pinch-hit RBI double in the opener and a solo homer in the
second.
Frank Corolla, the Game 1 starter, picked up the win after scattering
nine hits and seven earned runs over 5 1/3 innings.
But the day’s stories were the short-notice performances of Benevides
and Padgett, who weren’t sure they’d be in the starting lineup until
earlier today.
“We’ve had to use Mike as a sub for Keith before, and he was extremely
productive,” Livin said. “He’s one of those guys you know is so
dependable, and having him step up the way he did is a tribute to his
attitude. He’s ready to play any time.”
Livin added that not all his decisions panned out the way he’d hoped,
specifically when it came to Benevides.
“I called a couple of pitches for him that as soon as I sent them out,
I thought, ‘Wait,’” Livin said. “Corey’s stat line really should look
better than it does, just because I probably should have called
something different a couple of times, and it cost him some runs.”
AC’s offense pounded dents in the walls all day long, finishing with
eight doubles and three triples in the opener. Three of those
two-baggers – and two of the triples – came in a six-run fifth inning
to put the ‘Runners on top 10-4. The Eagles answered with a four-run
sixth on five consecutive hits, chasing Corolla and bringing on Tanner
Hamilton. Hamilton kept Northeast Texas off the board over the final
inning and two-thirds.
The ‘Runners came back in the nightcap with another 15 hits, five of
those for extra bases, including Padgett’s two-RBI triple in a
five-run fifth. Kelley also knocked in two runs in the inning with a
double, and Bryan Mallett drove in another with a single. All this was
set up by Rowell’s sacrifice bunt just an inning after he’d gone over
the wall in right for a solo dinger.
The two wins push AC’s record to 15-12-2, 5-5 with a road trip to Lon
Morris scheduled for Saturday. Jason Gurka and Trey Rackel are the
scheduled starting pitchers for those games.
Game time in Jacksonville is at noon.
