No. 2 Seed Baseballs Wins Ninth Opening Round Title, Advances to Third Consecutive Avista NAIA World Series

KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The second-seeded baseball team sat in a good position entering Wednesday's game against No. 1 seed Webber International University at the NAIA Opening Round Kingsport Bracket. The team won the winner's portion of the bracket to make it where they had to lose twice to not win their ninth Opening Round Title. Losing never entered the equation, though, as the Bulldogs controlled the championship game throughout, winning by a final score of 9-1 to earn a trip to the program's ninth overall and third straight Avista NAIA World Series.

The trend throughout the first two games for the Bulldogs was scoring in the first inning, and the team did not buck from that in this game, scoring three runs this time around.

Allan Gil Fernandez kicked the offense off with a single, moving to second on a Rob Gordon sacrifice bunt. The fourth ball on Josh Shelly's walk got away from the catcher, allowing Fernandez to get to third. A single by David Ballenilla brought in Fernandez, giving the team a 1-0 lead. A failed pick off attempt on Shelly gave each runner a chance to move forward a base. Brayan Espinoza was the only person standing on base after his single brought in both Shelly and Ballenilla, giving the team a 3-0 lead they carried into multiple innings. 

With McGwire Taylor retiring the first nine batters he faced, TWU added a run to their lead in the third and fourth innings.

Shelly scored the run in the third inning for the Bulldogs, getting on base with a single and stealing second. A fly out moved Shelly to third and a single by Espinoza gave him his third RBI of the game as Shelly scored.

In the fourth inning, Cody McGill sent the second pitch of the inning over the left field wall right as a small rainstorm brought rain onto the field, giving the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead. After two scoreless innings, the teams traded runs in the seventh inning. 

The run for Tennessee Wesleyan came with the bases loaded. Kolton Reynolds was the first to get on base and became the run for the Bulldogs, scoring on a Fernandez RBI single. Reynolds helped the team add two more runs in the eighth inning, sending the second pitch he saw over part of the center field wall, bringing in Ballenilla in the process to move the score to 8-1. Thomas Teel recorded the final run of the game, bringing in Espinoza on a sacrifice fly to give the team their 9-1 lead. 

The win advances TWU (43-14) to the Avista NAIA World Series for the third consecutive season and ninth time overall. The bracket will be announced on Monday.