Amilcar Yanez And Rickey Rice Stellar On The Mound For The Falcons

CARY, NC (March 25) – On Saturday, Saint Augustine's University relied on strong pitching from Amilcar Yanez (So./Venezuela) and Rickey Rice (R-Sr./Union, SC) to sweep Bluefield State College 4-0 and 2-1 in a baseball doubleheader at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

With the wins, the Falcons (14-17 overall) surpassed last season's victory total (13) with a month left in the regular season. They will attempt to add more wins Sunday, March 26 in another doubleheader against the Big Blues (6-13 overall) at the USA Baseball National Training Complex starting at 1 p.m.

The Falcons rode the arms of Yanez and Rice to extend their win streak to five games. In the first contest, Yanez hurled a three-hit shutout in seven complete innings to remain unbeaten at 3-0. In the second game, Rice recorded eight strikeouts, one walk and one earned run in seven complete innings for his fourth win which leads the CIAA. The CIAA strikeouts leader, Rice scattered eight hits in the game.

Yanez and Rice received run support from the trio of Ruben Pinero (R-Jr./Bronx, NY), Corey Brassington (Sr./Raleigh, NC) and Johnathan Sierra (So./Raleigh, NC). Pinero was 3-for-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and one run scored in the first game. His two-run double in the fifth inning broke the game open as Hector Pichardo (So./Dominican Republic) and Tim Carter (Sr./Lumberton, NC) both scored for a 4-0 lead.

Pinero put the Falcons on the scoreboard earlier in the game. His RBI double scored Alexis Garcia (Sr./Maracaibo, Venezuela) in the second inning and Pinero scored on a passed ball in the fourth inning.

Both Brassington and Sierra helped the Falcons come from behind in the second game. The Falcons trailed 1-0 after the Big Blues scored in the fourth inning but Brassington scored Pinero on an RBI double and Brassington scored on Sierra's RBI double in the fifth inning for a 2-1 lead.

The Big Blues threatened in the seventh with men on second and third and one out but Rice shut the door on a late rally. He struck out two consecutive batters for the final outs.

Bo Williams was the losing pitcher in the first game after allowing nine hits in 5.2 innings. Brandon Wortkoetter took the loss in the second game after scattering seven hits in six innings. Cole Blocker drove in the only run for the Big Blues.