LEWISTON, Idaho — The Tennessee Wesleyan College baseball team stretched the program’s first game in an NAIA World Series for three extra innings Friday but fell 3-2 in the 12th to Embry-Riddle.
Aaron Glaum’s line-drive single gave the Florida school the win after Wesleyan (46-17) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the inning.
Friday evening, fourth-seeded Lee University edged No. 5 seed and defending champion Lubbock Christian, 7-6, on a Jose Cuevas home run in the bottom of the ninth. He was 3-for-5, as was Chattanoogan Tanner Moore, who doubled three times, drove in two runs and scored two, and leadoff man JJ Costantino tripled and doubled and scored twice.
The Flames (50-11) don’t play again until Monday, facing the winner of today’s game between Point Loma Nazarene and top-ranked host Lewis-Clark State.
TWC’s game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, when Glaum singled with one out and moved around on another single and a fielder’s choice, but the Bulldogs answered in their next at-bat with Ryan Santos singling and advancing on a throwing error, a wild pitch and Jonathan Smith’s sacrifice fly.
The Eagles (45-17) loaded the bases without scoring in the bottom of the eighth, and no one scored again until Max Loveland singled for TWC in the 12th, recorded his 50th stolen base of the season, took third on a one-out balk and scored on Brad Pippa’s sacrifice fly.
But in the bottom, pinch hitter Josh Krummel reached on a Santos error, pinch runner Dane Beaudette stole second and scored on Branden Roper-Hubbert’s single, Steve Sabins singled Roper-Hubbert to third and Glaum brought him home.
Wesleyan starting pitcher Hamilton Bennett went seven innings and struck out nine batters, and Eagles counterpart Austin Quinn lasted until Loveland’s 12th-inning hit and threw 123 pitches. Embry-Riddle plays No. 2 seed Cumberland today, and TWC faces the loser of Friday’s late game between California Baptist and Oklahoma City at 3 p.m. EDT.
The Bulldogs got seven hits, all singles, and no one had two.
Matthew Gilson took a 10-0 record into Lee’s game and gave up just two earned runs but five in all in 6 2/3 innings. Aaron Everett (7-6) got the win in relief, after giving up Rafael Thomas’ tying homer in the top of the ninth.
Taylor Comford was 2-for-3 and Junior Rodriguez and Michael Brown had RBIs for Lee.