AUGUSTA, Ga. – Miles College won its first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Baseball Championship on Sunday evening with a 13-8 win over LeMoyne-Owen College at Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta, Ga.
Miles (31-19 overall) earned the automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Division II Baseball South Region Tournament set to take place May 18-22. The NCAA selection show will air at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com on Sunday.
The Golden Bears recorded 12 hits and had four players finish with two hits each (Ryan Bargery, Xavius Burden, Peyton Logan, and Kolby Brannon).
LeMoyne-Owen (20-30) led 8-6 until the eighth inning when Miles unleashed six runs off three hits and a pair of errors by the Magicians. The Golden Bears stretched their lead to 13-8 in the ninth inning off an RBI single from Bargery to score Gray Mason, Jr. who reached on a triple.
Christopher Elias (6-2) recorded the win for Miles. In 2.2 innings, he gave up just three hits and three runs, one of which was earned. Burden pitched the final two innings and led all players in strikeouts with five.
Burden was named the 2017 SIAC Baseball Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player. Joining Burden on the all-tournament team from Miles were Trevor Bates, Damion Williams, and Elias.
Offensively, the Magicians were led by Robert Sheard who was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs. Sheard along with Calem Serrant represented LeMoyne-Owen on the all-tournament team. The Magicians used five pitchers in the game and Ulric Johnson recorded the loss.
LeMoyne-Owen head coach Marcus Smith was tabbed the Outstanding Coach of the Tournament.
2017 SIAC Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
| Xavius Burden – MVP | Miles | .474, 9 hits, 7 RBI, 5 runs, 11 strikeouts |
| Christopher Elias | Miles | Championship winning pitcher, 2-0 record, 1.86 ERA, 5 strikeouts |
| Trevor Bates | Miles | .615, 8 hits, 5 RBI. 4 runs, |
| Damion Williams | Miles | .357, 5 hits, 7 runs, 3 RBI |
| Calem Serrant | LeMoyne-Owen | .444, 8 hits, 9 runs, 9 RBI |
| Robert Sheard | LeMoyne-Owen | .636, 7 hits, 7 runs, 1 RBI |
| Cameron Starks | Kentucky State | .500, 8 hits, 5 runs, 2 RBI |
| Justin Stinson | Kentucky State | .467, 7 hits, 6 RBI, 4 runs |
| Nick Greiggs | Albany State | .533, 8 hits, 6 RBI, 4 runs |
| Kelvin Wimbish | Albany State | .643, 9 hits, 7 runs, 5 RBI |
Courtesy: SIAC
