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| Recap, photo courtesy of Tennessee Wesleyan |
Athens, TN- A tough schedule peaked once again for (RV) Tennessee Wesleyan (21-16, 10-5) on Wednesday when they were back on Jack Bowling Field. Sitting in the other dugout of Athens Insurance Stadium was the second-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College Grizzlies.
In a game where the teams combined for 31 hits on the day, runs did not start to roll in until the fourth inning. Georgia Gwinnett scored two runs to make it a deficit for the Bulldogs when they came to bat. Tristan Clarke began the inning with a single but was forced out on Collin Ridout's fielder's choice. The second out of the inning occurred before a Dakota Phillips single moved Ridout to third give the hope of scoring a run. Ridout scored on the next batter's, Braden Mosley, single to cut the deficit to one, making the score 2-1 in favor of the visitors.
A run in the fifth inning by the Grizzlies set up TWU's two-run sixth inning which tied the game 3-3. A double from Ridout was followed by a double by Phillips, scoring Ridout's second run of the game. Phillips' game-tying run came on a Grant Lang ground out after Mosley's second hit of the game moved Phillips to third, forcing the tie at the end of the inning.
The scoring continued for the Bulldogs, taking their first lead of the game in the seventh inning. Malik Stephens started the inning with a double to right field and advanced to third on a Tyler Halas bunt single. A sacrifice fly by Clarke pushed the go-ahead run in Stephens across home plate to make the score 4-3. It would not remain a one run lead for Tennessee Wesleyan though as Georgia Gwinnett scored a run in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score once again. But losing the lead did not hold the Bulldogs from making the march back to the top of the scoreboard.
A five-run inning started with a Mosley walk and was followed by a pinch-hitting Adrian Gonzalez's bunt single. A second consecutive bunt single by Chris Baetzel loaded the bases. The momentum stalled temporarily with the next two batters striking out. A Clarke single restored the drive for TWU to take the lead as Mosley scored to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 advantage. A hit by pitch for Ridout as the bases remained loaded scored Gonzalez to extend the lead to two. Aloysius Cruz come to the plate and hit a ball in the air which hit off the right fielder's glove as it came down, unloading the bases with pinch-runner Kyle Tunnell, Clarke and Ridout scoring to expand the lead to 9-4. Tennessee Wesleyan held on to win the game by a final score of 9-6.
Jack Granath pitched his way to nine strikeouts in seven innings of play, giving up just one earned run in the game. On the offensive side, the Bulldogs finished with 15 hits in the game, led by Ridout's 3-4 from the plate with three runs scored and a RBI.
Thursday sees the beginning of a three-game series, originally set to begin on Friday but moved up with the potential for torrid rain over the weekend, against Bluefield College. The matchup between the Appalachian Athletic Conference opponents in Athens Insurance Stadium is set for a single-game to begin at 3:00 PM.
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