Baseball tops CIU behind Mendoza, Powell longball onslaught

COLUMBIA, S.C. - While Angel Mendoza continues his rise up the national home run rankings, his teammates are finding a way to share the spotlight with him in a Union offense that is becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

Mendoza and Luke Powell combined for seven hits, both hit two home runs and Powell had a whopping seven RBIs as the Bulldogs survived a rough ninth inning and upped their league record to 5-1 with an 18-16 win over Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Columbia International in the opening game of a three-game series on Friday.

Mendoza, who entered the day just two homers off the national lead, immediately spiked his total with a solo shot in the first inning, his fourth first-inning home run this season.

Ram bats caught fire early as well as CIU built a 7-3 lead, only for Union to rally to tie the game in the fourth inning, a surge capped by Mendoza's second home run, a two-run shot. He also added an RBI in the seventh, finishing the day 4-for-5 at the plate.

Powell, who gave Union a 3-1 lead with a two-run shot in the top of the third inning, put Union ahead 8-7 with an RBI single in the sixth, then appeared to put the game out of the reach in his next at-bat by ripping a grand slam.

Seth Keener also contributed two hits and two RBIs while he, Royce Brittentime and Luke Pell all scored three times for the Bulldogs, who scored the most runs they have in a game since an 18-10 win over Montreat on March 29, 2021.

After scoring double-digit runs just twice last season, the Bulldogs have already done so eight times during a 14-4-1 start to 2023.

Ever one of those runs was needed Friday. Trailing 18-10 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Rams got a leadoff double by Emmanuel Maldonado, then took advantage of eight Union walks and a pair of pass balls to get within two runs and even had the tying run in scoring position before a flyout finally ended a game that got much closer than it appeared it would.

The two teams are back at it with a doubleheader Saturday, with the first game set to begin at noon.