No. 2 Baseball Run Rules Way to AAC Championship Game; Clinches 16th Consecutive Bid to NAIA Opening Round

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The baseball team experienced many emotions at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) on Friday. Tennessee Wesleyan, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, began the day not knowing who their opponent would be. By 3:00 p.m., the Bulldogs learned their opponent was going to be the No. 3 seed Johnson University Royals, the team they beat the previous night. On Friday night, the team won the game by ten runs.

The first emotion the team felt was glee as TWU scored the first run of the game. Josh Shelly hit a single to left field to get on base, moving to second on a wild pitch. Daniel Stewart gave the team the first lead of the game with a double bringing in Shelly. 

The feeling of glee carried on into the second inning as another run came acrosse for the Bulldogs in the second inning. After getting on with a double, Brayan Espinoza move to third on a bunt single by Devin Dixon and scored on a throwing error to move the lead to 2-0.

The gleeful feeling stayed afloat in the third inning, this time casued by a home run. With Shelly standing on first after a single, Stewart sent the ball flying over the left field wall to extend the lead to 4-0. Then a gloomy feeling occurred as a weather delay went into effect. 

After a hour and 15-minute delay, the game started back up in the fifth inning. A moment of despair from Johnson breaking the shutout turned into happiness in the bottom of the fifth. Corbin Shaw started the offensive half with a single. Shaw was not on base long as Espinoza belted a ball over the right field wall, moving the lead to 8-1. 

The excitement of invoking the run-rule came over in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded by Shelly, Chris Catalano, and Kolton Reynolds, Shaw unloaded them with a double, giving the team a 10-run advantage. Espinoza gave the team another insurance run, bringing in Shaw with a single, to help the team win the game 12-1 in seven innings. 

Stewart, Shaw, and Espinoza all finished with three RBIs in the game. Shelly finished a perfect 4-4 from the plate. Justin Jackon pitched all seven innings, striking out seven batters in the process. 

The win moves the Bulldogs (41-11) to the championship game on Saturday. As one of the teams in the championship game, TWU earned one of the conference automatic bids to the NAIA Opening Round for their 16th consecutive trip to the Opening Round. TWU will face the winner of the if necessary game between Milligan University and Reinhardt University. A game time has not been announced due to weather potentially playing a factor.