No. 3 Baseball Brings Brooms on Senior Day

Athens, Tenn.- The baseball team played their final home games of the regular season on Saturday. The third-ranked Bulldogs closed out an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series against the (RV) Reinhardt University Eagles on Senior Day. The two teams played a doubleheader to end the series.

Game One:

In a high-scoring game, Reinhardt took the first lead of the game in the second inning by scoring three runs. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, TWU cut into the lead when Parker Stinnett's walk kept the bases loaded and brought Andre Tarver home. The team scored one more run in the inning, a Cody McGill run off an Evan Magill sacrifice fly.

Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the third, the lead moved to the Bulldogs' favor through four home runs. Carson Ford hit the first home run, a solo shot to center field. Marco Martinez and Tarver hit back-to-back solo home runs over left-center field, giving the team a 5-4 lead. Cayle Webster made the score 6-4 with his solo home run over center field. Unfortunately, Reinhardt took back the lead in the top of the fifth inning.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bulldogs cut the deficit to two runs. A hit by pitch on Stinnett's at-bat brought Martinez to home plate and a wild pitch gave Tarver the space to score, moving the score to 10-8. In the seventh inning, Webster scored on Magill's sacrifice fly to cut the opponent's lead to one run. The opponents scored two runs in the top of the eighth to move their lead back out to three runs.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tennessee Wesleyan took the lead for good. Sayre opened the bottom half of the eighth with a solo home run to bring the team within two runs. McGill tied the game at 12-12 with his two-run home run bringing in Martinez as well. After a Webster walk and stolen base, Stinnett gave the base runner the space needed to score with a double down the left-field line. Magill blasted a ball over the right field wall to score two runs as Stinnett crossed home plate as well, giving the Bulldogs a 15-12 lead they took into the ninth and held on to.

TWU hit eight home runs in the game. Magill led the offense with four RBIs. Kyle Bloor got the pitching win and Carmine Poppiti was credited with the save.

Game Two:

In the second game, the Bulldogs scored eight runs through the first four innings to take control. A single down the left field line by Magill scored Webster to give the team a 1-0 lead. A bases-loaded walk ended Stinnett's time on base and placed Ford on first. A double down the left field line moved Ford to third as Braxton Turner and Aiden McClary both scored to give the team a 4-0 lead at the end of the second inning.

The third inning started with two hit by pitches and a bunt single loading the bases with McGill, Webster, and Stinnett being the occupants. McGill left third after tagging up on a Turner sacrifice fly. Ford picked up two RBIs when his double scored both Webster and Stinnett, moving the team's lead to 7-0. The fourth inning saw McGill score the eighth run of the game on a triple down the left-field line by Webster.

Two home runs in the sixth propelled TWU to 12 runs in the game. The first home run came from Sayre, a solo bomb to right center field. Webster had the second home run, this one a three-run blast that scored McGill and Tarver to make the score 12-0. Reinhardt scored a run in the top of the seventh to make the final score 12-1.

Webster led the offense with four RBIs. Sam Rochard got the pitching win, striking out five batters during his time on the mound. Alex Wize had one strikeout in relief.

Up next for the Bulldogs (35-6, 24-0 AAC) is a road trip to Montreat College on Friday. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.