No. 8 Seed Baseball Holds Off No. 5 Southeastern to Win Fourth Straight Elimination Game

LEWISTON, Idaho- Tennessee Wesleyan advanced to the semifinals of the Avista NAIA Baseball World Series on Thursday. The eighth-seeded baseball team survived their fourth elimination game, this time beating the No. 5 seed Southeastern University Fire 8-5 to move one game away from the national title game.

The Bulldogs led 2-1 after the second inning. Kolton Reynolds and Brayan Espinoza stood in scoring position when Ethan Wright hit a single to center field that both runners scored on. 

In the third inning, Allan Gil Fernandez hit a home run for the second consecutive game, a two-run shot like the previous game that also brought in Hagen Escoto, giving the team a 4-1 lead to end the third inning. Southeastern scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 4-3.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh innings saw the Bulldogs score four runs. Rob Gordon and Josh Shelly opened the fifth inning with singles, and David Ballenilla followed with a single that Gordon scored on. Reynolds hit a double down that Shelly scored on, making the lead for the team 6-3. 

In the sixth inning, Escoto would score on a fielder's choice and in the seventh inning, Ballenilla scored on a passed ball, giving the team a 8-3 lead. Southeastern scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth. 

Due to playing the same amount of games as Taylor University and them being the No. 1 seed, the Bulldogs (47-15) lost the tiebreaker to Taylor, forcing them to play on Friday against No. 10 seed William Carey University at 9:30 p.m. ET.