No. 21 Baseball Splits Doubleheader Against Cumberland

ATHENS, Tenn.- The baseball team returned to the field at Athens Insurance Stadium on Wednesday. The team hosted the Cumberland University Phoenix in a non-conference doubleheader on Jack Bowling Field. Each game was set to be played in seven innings.

Game One:

The first game of the doubleheader saw four runs scored between the two teams. Three of them helped 21st-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan take the win in the game.

The damage was done in the third inning by the Bulldogs. Braxton Turner kept the inning going as two outs were on the board with his single. A single by Blake Hubble followed and moved Turner to third. Turner scored on Marco Martinez's double to make the lead 1-0. Jack Stevens made the score 3-0 with his single scoring both Hubble and Martinez. The pitching of Christian Delashmit, Sam Rochard, Julian Berinti, and Gage Vailes along with the defense only gave up one run to the opponents, giving TWU a 3-1 win in the opening game.

Delashmit got the pitching win, striking out four batters in five innings. Vailes was credited with the save.

Game Two:

The opponents took the first lead of the second game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The Bulldogs did not trail for long though. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Stevens opened with a single, scoring on Webster's triple to tie the score. After an Evan Magill walk, Kruise Newman gave Tennessee Wesleyan the lead with a three-run home run, making the score 4-1. The team scored four more runs in the third inning.

They were not as quick strike as the runs in the second inning, as the bases became loaded before the first run of the inning was recorded. Martinez, Stevens, and Webster all occupied the bases before a walk helped Martinez leave third and put Magill on first. Corbin Shaw made it two walks in a row, bringing Stevens to home plate to move the lead to 6-1. A fielder's choice on Carson Ford's at-bat gave Webster the chance to go home and a passed ball allowed Magill to score, making the score 8-1 through three innings. TWU grew their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with solo home runs by Magill and Shaw. 

The game saw a momentum change in the sixth inning, where Cumberland scored a run. The opponents carried the momentum into the seventh inning and scored nine runs, stunning the Bulldogs in an 11-10 loss. 

Newman led the offense with three RBIs. 

Tennessee Wesleyan (23-13) jumps back into conference play on Friday as they begin a conference series against Truett McConnell University. The game is set to begin at 4:00 p.m.