#23 TWU Takes Friday's Game 1 Against Point
West Point, GA- The baseball team, ranked #23 in the polls, went back on the road on Friday to begin a three-game series against Point University. The team entered the day tied for first in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) with two AAC series remaining, one being this series against the Skyhawks.
After a first inning where two runners were left on base, the Bulldogs returned in the second inning hoping to convert their hits to runs. It began with Adrian Gonzalez, who doubled to right-center and moved to third on an Alfred Cruz single. A Malik Stephens sacrifice fly scored Gonzalez to give TWU a 1-0 lead.
The fifth inning is where the Bulldogs struck again, this time with a quick shot from Tristan Clarke over the left field wall to score two more runs with Tyler Halas already standing on first. Collin Ridout looked to keep the scoring going, outrunning the first baseman to follow the homer with a single. A ground out moved Ridout to second but put the second out of the inning on the board. Dakota Phillips hit a single to left-center which gave Tennessee Wesleyan a 4-0 lead before the inning ended with the third out.
It was an all too familiar scene in the sixth inning as a couple of Bulldogs made their way around the bases once again. The first was Adrian Gonzalez who was hit by a pitch to get to first. Cruz followed with a single to add a second runner. A second sacrifice from Stephens, this time a bunt, put both base runners in scoring position on second and third. After the bases became loaded on a Clarke walk, Ridout hit a single to second and both Gonzalez and Cruz showed off their wheels as both scored to give the team a 6-0 advantage after the sixth inning. TWU added one more run in the form of a Phillips home run to take the first game of the series 7-2.
Ridout went 4-5 in the game with two RBIs for the Bulldogs. The team also got two RBIs from Clarke and Phillips to go along with one from Stephens. The home runs by Clarke and Phillips were number 12 on the season for both, tying them for first on the team with Aloysius Cruz. Philip Sieli got his fifth win on the mound, pitching 6.2 innings and giving up seven hits, two earned runs while striking out six batters.
The victory gave the team (30-17, 17-5) their 5th straight win and made them winners in 13 of their last 14 games
The two teams will close out the series on Saturday, April 21 with a doubleheader set to begin at 1:00 PM.