Baseball falls to Tennessee Wesleyan 11-2 in first game of NAIA Opening Round

Baseball

@MUCRUSADERSBSB FALTERS IN OPENING ROUND OPENER

PHOTOS | KINGSPORT, Tenn. -  The third-seeded Madonna University baseball team left nine runners on base and the big hit never came in an 11-2 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan University in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Kingsport Bracket at Hunter Wright Stadium on Monday.

The Crusaders slide to the consolation bracket where they will have to win five games in three days to keep their dreams of a World Series alive. The task begins on Tuesday, May 15 at 11 a.m. against Trinity Christian College.

HOW IT HAPPENED: TENNESSEE WESLEYAN(38-19) 11, MADONNA (36-17) 2

  • Second Inning

    • A one-out home run to left field by the six-hole hitter got the Bulldogs on the board first. A pair of base hits had runners at second and third, but Jared Hagan (SR/Dearborn Heights, Mich.) turned an 8-2 double play with a laser to the plate to end the inning.

  • Third Inning

    • A leadoff walk, a single and a triple to the gap in the spacious outfield made it 3-0 for the visitors from Athens.

    • Adrian Reed (SO/Westland, Mich.) and Jared Hagan delivered one-out base hits and Jalen Thomas (JR/Southfield, Mich.) drove in Reed with a two-out base hit, but a flyout ended the threat.

  • Fourth Inning

    • A leadoff single and a two-out double pushed the deficit back to three.

    • The offense seemed to gain some momentum in the bottom half as Mitch Hudvagner (SR/Cottam, Ontario) led off with a single, Jerad Dokey(SO/Howell, Mich.) worked a two-out walk, Reed singled and Hagan beat out an infield base hit to make it 4-2, but a strikeout again stranded runners on the bases for MU.

  • Final Five Innings

    • The Bulldogs added a pair of runs in each of the fifth, sixth and ninth, along with a single run in the eighth for the 11-2 final.

INSIDE THE BOX

  • The Blue and Gold collected eight hits in the contest, but TWU tallied 12 while the Crusaders made the lone error

  • Hagan, White and Reed each finished with two hits while Reed, who earned Player of the Game honors, also drew a walk and scored once

  • Hagan and Thomas had Madonna's two RBI while Hudvagner scored the other run

  • Jack Ferguson (JR/Livonia, Mich.) took the loss as he allowed six runs on seven hits with four walks and a strikeout over 4.1 innings

  • John Beuckeleare (SO/Dearborn, Mich.) (1.2 IP, 2 R), Todd Jones (SR/Monroe, Mich.) (2 IP, 1 R) and Blake Herrera (SR/Apopka, Fla.) (1 IP, 2 R) each pitched in relief

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