No. 1 Baseball Defeats No. 2 Hope International University at East/West Challenge

LAKELAND, Fla.- A rematch of the 2024 Avista NAIA World Series game took place in the East/West Challenge on Friday when the No. 1 ranked Bulldogs faced the No. 2 Hope International University Royals. An exciting game saw TWU pick up their third win of the season and third consecutive win against a ranked opponent with a winning score of 5-4.

The first inning ended in a tie. Hope International took the first lead of the game and TWU responded with a Josh Shelly score. After getting on base on a strikeout wild pitch, a throwing error moved Shelly to second. Devin Dixon hit a single to move Shelly to third, who scored on a fielder's choice by Edwin Toribio to tie the score 1-1 after one inning.

In the third inning, Dixon got on base with a single and moved to third on Toribio's double. Daniel Stewart bopped a single to right field, giving the runners on base the room needed to score, breaking the tie and giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage. Hope International tied the game in the top of the sixth inning. The bottom of the sixth inning saw the tie break.

Brayan Espinoza used a walk and two stolen bases to get to third base. The other corner base became occupied when Shelly earned a walk. Shelly moved to second and Espinoza scored on Dixon's single. Toribio made it two consecutive singles in the inning, bringing Shelly home to move the team's lead to 5-3 at the end of the inning. The opponents' final run occurred in the top of the ninth before the Bulldogs recorded the final out to end the game. 

Justin Jackson had seven strikeouts on the mound while Christian Delashmit was credited with the win and Colton Brumley picked up the save. Stewart and Toribio both had two RBIs while Dixon had one RBI.

TWU (3-0) closes out their time at the East/West Challenge on Saturday with a game against No. 7 Lewis-Clark State College. The first pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.