No. 3 Baseball Overcomes Reinhardt

Athens, Tenn.- The baseball team, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA, was back in Athens to play their second-to-last home game of the season. The teams opened a three-game series against the (RV) Reinhardt University Eagles.

Weather played a part in the game as it forced an hour-and-a-half delay. Coming out of the delay, the opponents went on the board first, scoring two runs in the first inning. Three solo home runs brought the Bulldogs back into the game.

Dan Sayre hit the first solo home run in the third inning to cut the lead in half. Cayle Webster hit a solo shot in the fourth inning to tie the game. TWU took the lead in the fifth inning on Andre Tarver's solo bomb. Reinhardt scored three runs in the top of the sixth to retake the lead. A sacrifice fly by Sayre gained one of those runs back as Evan Magill scored in the bottom of the sixth.

In the seventh inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with only one out in the inning. A fielder's choice on Parker Stinnett's at-bat tied the game as Tarver scored. A sacrifice fly by Magill gave Cody McGill space to score, giving Tennessee Wesleyan a one-run advantage. The lead turned to three runs as Stinnett and Webster scored on Braxton Turner's at-bat, making the score 8-5 after the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bulldogs added a few more runs to their score. Sayre and Marco Martinez stood on first and second as Tarver hit a triple down the right-field line to extend the lead to 10-5. Tarver scored the final run of the game on Webster's ground out, making the winning score 11-5 for TWU.

Tarver led the offense with three RBIs in the game. Gage Vailes had six strikeouts in 5.2 innings while Jake Sergent threw 3.1 innings of scoreless ball to pick up the win.

The series between the Bulldogs (33-6, 22-0 AAC) and the Eagles close out with a doubleheader on Saturday for Senior Day. The first game of the doubleheader is set for 1:00 p.m.