No. 5 Baseball Completes Series Sweep of TMU

ATHENS, Tenn.- The fifth-ranked baseball team completed the series sweep of the Truett McConnell University Bears on Friday. TWU won the remaining two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) games against the Bears 11-1 in seven innings and 6-0.

Game One:

TWU started the scoring in the second inning with a Bryant O'Neill double bringing in Kolton Reynolds. After stolen bases put Rob Gordon and courtesy runner Cade Philpot in scoring position, David Ballenilla hit a double to left field that brought both runners in. With runners on the corners after a Reece Jordan single, Ethan Wright hit a single that both Ballenilla and Jordan scored on to give the team a 5-0 advantage.

After a Josh Shelly double in the bottom of the third, Kolton Reynolds hit a single that Shelly scored on. O'Neill's second double of the game pushed Reynolds to third, who went on to score on a Jonathan Bosque sacrifice fly, moving the team ahead 7-0. 

The teams traded runs in the sixth inning. After getting on base with a walk, Bosque recorded back-to-back stolen bases, scoring from third on Allan Gil Fernandez's sacrifice fly to make the score 8-1. 

TWU went ahead by ten runs in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded, Bosque earned a walk that took Reynolds off third. Ballenilla hit a ball that resulted in a throwing error, scoring Philpot, and moving Bosque to third. Bosque's score on Jordan's single invoked the run-rule to give the Bulldogs an 11-1 win in seven innings.

Justin Jackson had seven strikeouts on the mound during six innings of work in picking up the win.

Ballenilla led the team with three RBIs while Bosque and Wright had two RBIs each.

Game Two:

A single by Fernandez in the first inning gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. Jordan scored on the single from second base. 

Fernandez recorded another RBI in the third inning, this time using a double to score Jordan from second and giving TWU a 2-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Reynolds brought in Ethan Wright and the team ended the inning leading 5-0 after a double by O'Neill brought in both Fernadez and Shelly. 

While the offense was scoring the runs, the pitching of McGuire Taylor was keeping the Bears offense in check as the pitcher did not give up a hit through five innings. 

The last run of the game came across the plate in the sixth inning when Brayan Espinoza scored on Jacob Tolson's RBI double. 

Taylor had eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings during the win while Jalen Fulwood had five strikeouts during 1.2 innings of relief. 

TWU (11-0) will be back in action on Tuesday when they host No. 6 University of the Cumberlands at 5:00 p.m.