No. 6 Baseball Wins Elimination Game Against No. 5 Reinhardt; Sets Up Showdown for Championship Trip

LEWISTON, Idaho- For the third consecutive time out in Lewiston, Idaho, the baseball team played in the semifinal of the Avista NAIA World Series. This time, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs faced a familiar opponent, the Reinhardt University Eagles. The fifth seed in the tournament, the two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponents faced each other four times during the 2024 season, most recently in the AAC Tournament Title game, a TWU win. 

To keep their time in the tournament going, the Bulldogs had to win as it was an elimination game for them. As Daniel Davila was dealing on the mound, Tennessee Wesleyan got on the board in the third inning.

Braxton Turner became a base runner via a fielding error by the opponents. After the second out of the inning was recorded, Marco Martinez made sure to get the Bulldogs on the board. Martinez blasted a ball over the left field wall for a two-run home run and a 2-0 lead for the team. Reinhardt matched the score in the bottom of the third though, sending the game to the fourth inning with the score tied 2-2. 

TWU broke the tie in the fifth inning. Carson Ford hit a ball that rolled down the right field line, and by the time the ball had been corralled and sent back into the infield, Ford stood on third. Turner dropped a ball in left field that fell for a single and allowed Ford to make the easy trot to home plate to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. 

As the defense and Davila kept the Reinhardt offense at bay, Tennessee Wesleyan added a few insurance runs to the score in the eighth inning. A hit by pitch gave Webster the right-a-way to first base while Kruise Newman hit a single to put two runners on base. Hagen Escoto made a plate appearance as a pinch hitter, laying down a sacrifice bunt that moved both Webster and Newman forward a base. A hit by pitch as Ford stood at the dish loaded the bases. Turner added three more runs to the lead with a three-RBI double as Webster, Newman, and Ford all scored, making the score 6-2 at the end of the top of the eighth inning. Davila, who pitched 8.2 innings, the defense, and relief pitcher Jake Sergent did not allow the Eagles to comeback in the game, making the Bulldogs survivors of another elimination game with a score of 6-2. 

Davila had 10 strikeouts during his time on the mound, tying his career-high. Turner finished the game with four RBIs while Martinez had two RBIs.

The win by TWU (43-17) makes three teams remain in the field at the Avista NAIA World Series. One of the rules with three teams remaining in the field state the team who did not receive a bye up to this point in the tournament will get a bye into the championship game on Friday. Since TWU and Reinhardt both received byes so far in the tournament, the third team remaining, Hope International University, will get the bye into the championship game. The Bulldogs will face Reinhardt again on Thursday with the winner moving into the championship game. The game for a trip to the World Series Championship game between the two AAC foes is set to be played at 9:35 p.m., ET.