No. 4 Baseball Drops First AAC Game Against Pikeville

ATHENS, Tenn.- A comeback attempt fell short for the fourth-ranked baseball team as they fell in their first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game on Friday. The team fell to the University of Pikeville Bears 9-6. 

The opponents scored the first three runs of the game. Cody McGill got one of the runs back, hitting a single that brought in Kolton Reynolds to make the score 3-1. TWU took the lead in the third inning.

With David Ballenilla and Allan Gil Fernandez standing on base, Josh Shelly hit a ball over the left field wall for a three-run home run and a 4-3 lead for the Bulldogs. 

After Pikeville tied the score in the top of the fourth inning, the bottom half of the inning saw back-to-back singles for the Bulldogs break the tie. The first single by Ballenilla brought in courtesy runner Jonathan Bosque while the second single by Ethan Wright scored Ballenilla, giving the team a 6-4 lead. The offense went cold for the Bulldogs over the remainder of the game as the opponents tied the game in the eighth and took control of the game in the ninth, going on to win the game 9-6. 

Shelly led the offense with three RBIs.