No. 2 Baseball Uses 26 Runs and No-Hitter to Complete Sweep

ATHENS, Tenn.- The second-ranked baseball team saw two incredible feats in sweeping the doubleheader against the Kentucky Christian University Knights on Saturday. TWU scored 26 runs in the first win and threw a no-hitter in the second game.

Game One:

TWU scored in every inning in which they batted in. Chris Catalano scored the first run of the game, making his way over home plate on a Devin Dixon single. Daniel Stewart's flyout was turned into a sacrifice fly when Dixon scored from second, giving the team a 2-1 lead at the end of the first.

Another two runs went on the board for the Bulldogs in the second inning. This time it was a two-run home by Brayan Espinoza after Corbin Shaw's single. Tennessee Wesleyan added five runs in the third inning.

Two of the runs came in the form of solo home runs by Stewart and Josh Shelly. Edwin Toribio, who got on base with a double, scored on an error on Shaw's at-bat and Espinoza hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Kruise Newman. The inning ended with the Bulldogs leading 9-1 after a Catalano RBI single brought in Shaw.

Toribio added two more runs for the team in the fourth inning, bringing himself and Shelly home with a home run, moving the lead to 11-1 as team the game went into the fifth inning. 

TWU turned an 11-3 lead into a 23-3 lead in the fifth inning. 

Jordan Massis (2), Jonathan Bosque, Geremy Garcia (2), Kurtis Reid (2), Jack Stevens (2), Shaw, Kruise Newman, and Nick Collins all scored in the inning to give the team the 20-run advantage. Reid put the exclamation point on the inning and game with a two-run home run during the high-scoring inning. 

Three more runs in the sixth inning got the Bulldogs to 26 runs. Espinoza brought in Newman with a double in the inning, Troy James scored on a wild pitch, and Bosque hit a sacrifice fly to score Espinoza, giving Tennessee Wesleyan the 26-3 win.

Stewart, Shelly, Reid, Toribio, Shaw, and Espinoza all hit home runs. Catalano, Dixon,  Bosque, Stewart (4), Stevens (2), Shelly,  Reid (3), Toribio (2), Newman (2),  Shaw (3), and Espinoza (4) all had RBIs in the game.

Daniel Batcher got the pitching win, throwing five innings. Jalan Chambers had four strikeouts in two innings of relief. 

Game Two:

Anthony Figueroa pitched the no-hitter in the second game. The pitcher had four strikeouts in the game.

Offensively, Catalano played a part in all five runs the team scored.

In the first inning, Catalano scored on a bunt single by Dixon. In the second and fourth innings, Catalano hit two-run home runs, bringing in Espinoza and Reid with the bombs.

The wins moved the Bulldogs' record to 23-5 overall and 12-3 in the AAC. The team will return to action on Tuesday when they host Indiana University Kokomo in Athens Insurance Stadium at 3:00 p.m.