Joplin, Mo. – Down to just four remaining in the SAC Baseball Tournament presented by Netting Pros/STADIONIC, the opening three games at the final site in Joplin, Mo., set the tone with a mix of dominant pitching, timely hitting, and postseason intensity. The double-elimination tournament is taking place at Joe Becker Ballpark.
No. 1 Texas Wesleyan 4, No. 5 Nelson University 3 (11 innings)
The first game of the day was the most thrilling game as it produced an extra-inning walk-off win for the Rams.
Reagan Smith of Nelson had the Rams’ number for 8 innings as the Rams fought back in the 9
th to force extra innings. With the Lions having a commanding 3-1 lead, Brendon Vela would deliver a game-tying two-run home run to knot the game at 3-3. The Rams would walk off the Lions in the 11
th inning when Endi Jaquez hit a single through the left side to bring in the winning run.
No. 2 Mid-America Christian 8, No. 3 Oklahoma City 4
Mid-America Christian took an early lead in the 1
st after a sacrifice fly led to the first run of the ballgame, and Cole Krepcik followed that up with a two-run home run to right field to extend the lead to 3-0. The Stars would close the gap in the 3
rd with a three-run inning that featured multiple hits and capitalized on Evangel miscues. OCU would tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the 4
th as Cooper Holtorf homered to left center.
MACU would score three in the 5
th and add one more in the 7
th to make it an 8-4 game, and they would go on to win by that score to set up a matchup with the No. 1-seeded Rams.
No. 3 Oklahoma City 2, No. 5 Nelson University 4 (Oklahoma City Eliminated)
In the first elimination game of the weekend, the Lions edged the Stars 4-2 in a game that looked like it could go either team’s way at any time. OCU got the scoring started after Aiden Van Rensum mashed a home run in the 1
st inning. Nelson responded with a solo homerun of their own to tie the game at 1-1.
The next run wouldn’t come until the 5
th inning when the Lions tallied back-to-back walks and consecutive hits to take a 4-1 lead. Javier Balderas continued to keep OCU hitters off balance, going 5.2 strong innings and striking out 8 batters.
The Stars would plate a run in the sixth frame but couldn’t bring any more around to score, and the game would go on to end 4-2 as the Lions would live to play another day. Odnal Rivera would continue to hit the ball well, tallying 3 hits in each game today.
Action will start at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday with No. 1 Texas Wesleyan facing No. 2 Mid-America Christian and No. 5 Nelson awaiting the loser of that matchup in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m.