Eagles Narrowly Miss Out Sweeping AAC Titles
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tennessee Wesleyan
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
|
Reinhardt (GA)
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
Kingsport, TN - RU Baseball wrapped up its AAC regular season and tournament on Sunday in the AAC Championship game against conference rival, Tennessee Wesleyan. After playing a couple of extra-inning games coming into the final game, the Eagles would force extra innings again. The game was what you would expect from the top two teams in the AAC battling each other. There was good pitching from both sides, timely hits, and a few long balls to keep the game exciting, but it would be the Bulldogs that came out on top of this game, 5-4 in ten innings of baseball.
Cobey Allison got the start for the Eagles and he had one of his best pitching performances all season. He pitched six full innings and struck out two batters while only giving up a single run. He scattered the seven hits against him over the innings and most did not end up hurting the Eagles.
Adam Christopher came in for relief of Allison in the seventh inning and despite striking out two batters, he gave up a costly home run that allowed Tennessee Wesleyan to take a 3-1 lead through seven innings. The Eagles' offense battled back to tie the game in the eighth when the Eagles' ace came into pitch what everyone thought could be the game's final two innings. Everything looked good for the Eagles with Andrew Herbert on the mound to close things out, however, he would give up a rare two runs in the eighth and tenth innings. Herbert struck out two batters against the Bulldogs.
Reinhardt (GA)Pitchers
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COBEY ALLISON | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| ADAM CHRISTOPHER | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| ANDREW HERBERT (L, 9-1) | 3.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 10.0 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Just like Tennessee Wesleyan's offense - the Eagles did not have their best game offensively because the starting pitchers for both teams were having outstanding games. Each time one team scored, the other team answered back to tie the game.
Jarrett Burney would get the Eagles on the board first with a solo homer in the sixth inning. Burney was 1 for 4 on the day with one RBI and one run scored. Dylan Lewis was the only other highlighted offensive play for the Eagles. Lewis had a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Sam Kilgore and Lance Dockery. It was a big moment in the game and gave life to the Eagles. Lewis ended the game hitting 1 for 4 with 3 RBIs and one run scored.
Reinhardt had a few chances in the bottom of the ninth to win but came up short sending the 4-4 game to extra innings. Tennesse Wesleyan scored the one run needed in the top of the tenth and the Eagles failed to match it in the bottom of the inning ending the game in the Bulldogs favor.
Andrew Herbert, Matty Maurer, and Tucker Zdunich were named to the AAC All-Tournament Team.
The Eagles can now put the AAC Tournament and regular season behind them and start focusing on the NAIA postseason. Reinhardt has the honor of being named as one of the opening round host sites and they will find out their opponents on the NAIA Selection Show on Thursday at 5 pm. This will be broadcast on the NAIA YouTube channel and their Facebook page.
All tournament information including the opening round host sites, invited teams, tickets, live streaming, and more can be found on the following NAIA link:
https://www.naia.org/sports/bsb/index