Faced with elimination in the opening round of the NAIA baseball national playoffs on Wednesday, Tennessee Wesleyan University matched some of its best offensive outputs of the season for two victories that put the Bulldogs in position to win the Kingsport Regional on Thursday and advance to the NAIA World Series that starts next week in Lewiston, Idaho.
The Bulldogs ousted Michigan’s Madonna University, 15-9, to reach the championship round against Florida’s Webber International, then beat the Warriors 19-7 to force a decisive second game, set for 11 a.m. at Hunter Wright Stadium. Against Webber (38-21), the regional’s No. 2 seed, the top-seeded Bulldogs (51-9) matched their season high for runs – set in a 19-1 neutral-site win versus Spring Arbor on March 6 – and beat the team that sent them to the losers bracket via a 1-0 defeat Tuesday.
TWU compiled 20 hits and scored in every inning save the fifth, which followed its most productive frame, a six-run fourth in which 11 Bulldogs went to the plate. For the game, TWU’s Shamoy Christopher was 4-for-6 with three RBIs, Jhosmel Rodriquez and Anthony Williams each had three hits – with one a home run in both cases – and three RBIs, Dan Fry added three hits and Tyler Reichenborn drove in three runs. Manny Perez was the winning pitcher, working seven innings before Adrian Marquez handled the final two innings without allowing a run.
In Wednesday’s first win, against fourth-seeded Madonna (37-22) – a 6-3 loser to the Bulldogs on Monday – TWU’s 15-hit attack was led by Reichenborn’s 4-for-4 performance with a double, a homer and three RBIs. Williams was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and two RBIs, and Perez was the only other Bulldog with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs, although Christopher drove in two runs. The fourth inning was big in this case as well, with the Bulldogs scoring seven runs to take a 12-0 lead before Madonna answered with four in the bottom half. TWU used four pitchers, with Jerry Ochoa the winner after recording the final two outs.
Tennis
» The TWU men’s tennis team completed its season with a 5-0 loss to Middle Georgia State on Wednesday in the second round of the NAIA tournament in Mobile, Alabama. The sixth-seeded Knights swept doubles, winning by scores of 8-2, 8-4 and 8-3, before netting two straight-sets victories in singles to leave four matches unfinished with the overall outcome decided.
Middle Georgia (15-3) advanced to a quarterfinal against Wisconsin’s Cardinal Stritch University, the No. 3 seed. The Bulldogs, who were seeded 11th, finished 12-7 as they made their third straight appearance – and fourth overall – in the national tournament.
More trips to the national tournament could be in store for TWU – Caio Bardauil, from Sau Paulo, Brazil, who played doubles Wednesday, was the lone senior on this year’s roster, which included 10 freshmen.
Miscellaneous
» Lee University finished second in the Gulf South Conference all-sports race for 2018-19, with the overall trophy secured by West Florida as the league announced the final standings Wednesday. West Florida also finished first in the women’s standings with 50.875 points and second in the men’s with 40.875 for 91.750 total.
Lee’s overall total was 83.375, with the Lady Flames second in the women’s race at 46.375 and the men’s 37.000 ranking fourth. Valdosta State was third overall at 80.625 and won the men’s competition at 44.375. Alabama-Huntsville, with 39.500, was also ahead of the Flames.
Lee’s six GSC championships this season – in women’s basketball, women’s golf and cross country and track and field for both men and women – led the league, with the running sports sweep unprecedented in GSC history.
“I am so proud of the effort by our coaches and our student athletes this year,” Lee athletic director Larry Carpenter stated in a school release. “To finish in the top two for the second consecutive year is quite a testament to their dedication and hard work.”