Baseball falls to Miami Dade in opening round of World Series

It's a long way to the top.

Spartanburg Methodist College dropped down there Monday with an 8-3 loss to Miami Dade in both teams' opening game of the Junior College World Series at Suplizio Field, which is situated between the Monument to the southwest and the Grand Mesa to the northeast.

SMC is in a hole.

To stay alive and start climbing their way out in this double-elimination tournament, the fifth-ranked Pioneers (46-17) must win at 1 p.m. (Eastern) Tuesday against No. 1-ranked Chattahoochie (Ala.), which lost 10-2 against Blinn (Texas) on Monday in a winners' bracket game.

"To be honest, I don't think there's much I can do," SMC head coach Tim Wallace said. "It's up to the players. If they show up with the right mindset and get excited about playing, good things will happen. I believe we have as much talent as anybody out here."

Miami Dade, ranked 10th at 36-15, scored in each of the first two innings and got a solo home run by Mario Amaral in the fifth to make it 3-0 against SMC freshman starter Tripp Rollings. The Sharks were threatening constantly, however. They left the bases loaded in the first and fourth. They had two hold-your-breath long fly outs in the fourth, their only 1-2-3 inning.

"We started off slowly," SMC right fielder Zack Shields said. "We were hitting the ball hard, but it was right at people. Then we waited too long to come through and produce things."

SMC got close in the sixth. Wes Rogers and Matt White had back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Shields brought Rogers home on a groundout and White scored on an error to make it 3-2.

Miami Dade got both of those back in the bottom half, however, chasing Rollings from the game, and then tacked on three more in the eighth to blow it open.

"I didn't like our effort," Wallace said. "I didn't get the sense that we ever really competed or got after it. ... We just never got it going today."

Miami Dade starter Patrick Kyle Carter, a sophomore left-hander who transferred from Georgia, pitched all nine innings, more than he had all season out of the bullpen as he made his first start. Carter, who is mostly used in the outfield and first base, allowed only five hits and struck out eight, including the side in order during the fourth and seventh.

"The dude came out throwing strikes and attacked the zone," Rogers said. "We just needed to take better swings and get in better counts. I didn't feel like we competed like we should have."

Rogers had two of SMC's five hits, White went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and Shields was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Kennard McDowell had the Pioneers' only other hit.

Rollings lasted one out into the sixth, allowing only four hits but six walks while striking out six. One of the four runs with which he was charged was unearned. Only one of the Miami Dade batters who walked came around to score, that being the leadoff hitter in the sixth.

"For a freshman in that situation, I thought he threw very well," Wallace said. "He got himself into some jams, but he did well on this stage. Offensively, we just didn't help him very much."

Kyle Halbohn (4-2, 3.14 ERA) will likely get the start in Tuesday's elimination game. The 6-foot-8 sophomore lefty pitched seven innings and allowed just two earned runs against Harford (Md.) Community College in a 4-3 win by SMC in the NJCAA Eastern District championship tournament.

"This is a wake-up call for us," Shields said. "Now we have our backs to the wall. We have to come out and play hard. If we do that, I think we'll be OK."

The Pioneers have been in similar situations before. They faced elimination three times in the district tournament but came back and won a doubleheader on championship day against host team USC Sumter to earn a third straight trip to the World Series and ninth overall in program history.

"We're not done," Rogers said. "We just need to play our game. We'll be fine."

Watch the Pioneers here at 1:00pm