No. 6 Seed Baseball Breaks Eighth-Inning Tie to Win World Series Opener

LEWISTON, Idaho- For the seventh time in program history, the baseball team played a game in Lewiston, Idaho for the Avista NAIA World Series. In this rendition of the World Series for the Bulldogs, the team was seeded No. 6. TWU faced the No. 3 seed in the World Series, the University of the Cumberlands Patriots. 

The first lead of the game went to the Bulldogs. Braxton Turner opened the game with a single and made it to the other side of the field on Jack Stevens' single. Turner turned Cayle Webster's fly out into a sacrifice fly by tagging up on third base and sprinting home plate, giving the team a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

In the second inning, Turner brought in a run. Carson Ford got on base with a double and scored on Turner's single to make the lead 2-0 for TWU after the second inning. The third inning saw the game become tied 2-2 and the fourth inning saw the tie broken.

Kruise Newman hit a ball that caused an error to get on first in the top of the fourth inning. After moving to second on a ground out, Newman made the short trot to the plate as Dante Leach blasted a ball over the right field wall for a two-run home run, giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 advantage. The lead did not last long though as Cumberlands tied the score 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning. 

The game became unknotted in the eighth inning. Even though Turner stood on first after a hit by pitch, the offensive chance looked bleak as two outs were already on board. Marco Martinez kept the inning going with a single and Evan Magill loaded the bases with a walk. Webster broke a tie again, this time with a two-RBI double that brought Turner and Martinez across home plate, moving the team ahead 6-4. Newman added one more run to the lead in the inning, beating the throw on an infield single Magill was able to score on to make the score 7-4 as the defense took the field in bottom of the eighth. The team held on to the lead, winning their World Series opener by the 7-4 score.

Blake Peyton got the start on the mound, striking out 10 batters in 5.1 innings of work. Gage Vailes, who was credited with the win, had two strikeouts. Webster finished with three RBIs in the win. 

The win keeps Tennessee Wesleyan (41-16) in the winner's bracket of the double elimination tournament. The team will now play on Monday at 9:35 p.m., ET. The opponent is still to be determined.