No. 4 Baseball Wins Opener Against Union Commonwealth 19-4

ATHENS, Tenn.- No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan started their final Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) series of the season on Wednesday. A change in location put the team in a unique perspective as they opened the road series against the Union Commonwealth University Bulldogs at Athens Insurance Stadium, making them the away team on their home field. The change in perspective did not affect the Bulldogs though as Tennessee Wesleyan moved their record to 36-11 overall and 21-7 in the AAC with a 19-4 win.

Daniel Stewart started the scoring with a bang as he blasted a solo home run to give the team a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Union took the lead in the bottom of the first inning though by scoring three runs. TWU evened the score in the third inning, then took the lead in the fourth.

In the third, Geremy Garcia opened with a walk. Courtesy-runner Jonathan Bosque moved to second on a Kurtis Reid hit by pitch, and both batters moved a base on a Chris Catalano sacrifice bunt. Josh Shelly tied the game with a single up the middle, scoring both Bosque and Reid.

The fourth inning saw Kolton Reynolds, who opened the inning with a double, score on Devin Dixon's RBI single, moving the team ahead 4-3. A sacrifice fly by Garcia completed Corbin Shaw's time on base while a wild pitch gave Kruise Newman the space to score, giving the team a 6-3 advantage. The opponents scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead down to two runs.

A three-run home run in the seventh inning helped the Bulldogs extend their lead. Back-to-back singles by Stewart and Reynolds preceded the three-run home run, belted off the bat of Shaw, moving the lead to 9-4.

TWU was not done scoring. A 10-run ninth inning started with Shaw's second home run of the game. Pinch-hitter Nick Collins singled up the middle and was followed by a Garcia hit by pitch. A single by Brayan Espoinoza added another run to the board as pinch-runner Dixon scored on the run. Catalano made it two scoring hits as his double brought in both courtesy-runner Bosque and Espinoza while a single by Shelly made it three scoring hits in a row as Catalano scored to make the lead ten runs with a score of 14-4.

With Shelly and Stewart on base, Reynolds hit a single that brought in both runners to give the team two more runs. After moving to third on Cody McGill's single, Reynolds scored on a Newman sacrifice fly. The final two runs of the game were brought in on a Garcia single as McGill and Dixon both scored, bringing the team to their 15-run advantage. 

Justin Jackson earned the pitching win, striking out five batters in the process. 

The series is scheduled to conclude on Sunday in Barbourville, Ky. The first game of a doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.