No. 2 Seed Baseball Scores Three Unanswered Runs to Win AAC Tournament Opener

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The baseball team played their first game at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Championship Tournament on Wednesday. The team finished the season second in the regular season standings, making them the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The opponent the team opened the tournament against at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn., were the No. 10 seed, the Union Commonwealth University Bulldogs.

The offense started cold for the Bulldogs as Union put the first run of the game on the board in the fourth inning. TWU did not board until the seventh inning, starting a rally of offense that saw them score three unanswered runs on their way to the opening round win.

Marco Martinez started the offensive half of the seventh inning with a walk, moving to second on Evan Magill's ground out. Cayle Webster followed with a ground that moved Martinez to third. Kruise Newman came to the plate and hit a ball to left field the opposing left fielder could not handle, resulting in a triple and a run as Martinez crossed home plate to tie the score 1-1. The team took the lead and added an insurance run in the eighth. 

The first two batters of the inning recorded outs. Braxton Turner kept the inning alive with a single A double by Jack Stevens gave Turner the chance to score and the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Martinez singled to right field and Stevens was able to score on the hit, giving the team their third unanswered run in the 3-1 win.

Sam Rochard had eight strikeouts in eight innings on the mound while Gage Vailes had two strikeouts in the save.

The win keeps TWU in the winners' bracket of the their pool and moves them on to face No. 6 seed Montreat College on Thursday. The game is set to begin at 4:00 p.m.