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Box Score 2 Michael Keels Stood Out Offensively For The Falcons
CARY, NC (March 9) – On Wednesday, March 8, Michael Keels (R-Sr./Manning, SC) continued his hitting onslaught in baseball losses to Paine College at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. The Falcons fell 13-5 in the first game and 15-10 in the second game.
Keels was 4-for-7 with one RBI and two runs scored in both games combined. After Wednesday's games, Keels raised his batting average to .395 which ranks third in the CIAA. He also ranks third in the conference in stolen bases (16) after stealing two in the second game.
In the first game, Keels was 2-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored. Amilcar Yanez (So./Venezuela) smacked a two-run homer and Tyquan Bryant (So./Henderson, NC) produced an RBI.
The Falcons fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, but closed within 4-3 in the bottom frame. Keels scored on an infield error and Yanez scored himself and Tim Carter (Sr./Lumberton, NC) on his home run.
The Lions (7-9 overall) came back with five runs in the fifth inning for a 9-3 lead. The Falcons scored two runs in the same inning when Hector Pichardo (So./Dominican Republic) scored on a sacrifice bunt by Bryant and Carson Davis (So./Oakboro, NC) scored on a Keels single. The Falcons got no closer as the Tigers scored runs in the final three innings for the win.
Gabriel Guzman sparked the Lions with three RBIs on 3-for-4 hitting. Ricky Carvajal, Jahziel Morel and Keenan Robinson each knocked in two runs.
In the second game, the Falcons trailed early again, this time 7-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning. But the Falcons responded with seven runs in the second to tie the score.
Yanez started the scoring by crossing home plate on an infield error. Chris Zavala (Fr./Fayetteville, NC) scored on a balk and Pichardo scored on a single by Tre'Vohn Jeffrey (Fr./Raleigh, NC), who later scored on a passed ball. Tim Carter (Sr./Lumberton, NC) hit a two-run single to score Keels and Charles Lyons (So./Rockingham, NC), and Corey Brassington (Sr./Raleigh, NC) tied the game 7-7 when he stole home.
The Falcons (8-14 overall) would not score again until the seventh inning. By then, the Lions had opened a 15-7 lead.
The Falcons made things a little interesting in the seventh. Yanez scored Ali Nunn (Fr./Raleigh, NC) on a single and later scored on Zavala's double. Lyons scored Zavala on an RBI groundout for the final score.
Keels was 2-for-4 with one run scored and Yanez was 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Carter had two RBIs and Zavala scored twice.
The trio of Morel, Adam Martin and Keenan Robinson each had two RBIs for the Lions. Kendrick Elder scored four times and produced one RBI.
The Falcons are back in action in the Division II Challenge at the USA Baseball National Training Complex on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11. They will take on St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday at 5 p.m. and College of Saint Rose and Franklin Pierce University on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Saturday.
