Photo by STU Staff
Miami Gardens, Fla. – After a tough loss in their first game of the NAIA Opening Round Tournament, the McPherson College baseball team bounced back with a win on Tuesday over fourth seeded Middle Georgia State University. Facing elimination, the Bulldog offense came alive, keeping them in the mix with a 15-9 win over the Knights.
The Bulldogs jumped all over the Knights early, leading 4-0 after three innings of play. Through five and a half innings, the Bulldog lead was 7-2, but then the Knights put up five runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at seven. Undaunted, the Bulldogs rallied again, and added two runs to the scoreboard in the top of the seventh to retake the lead 9-7. Then in the top of the eighth, they broke the game open with a six spot making the lead 15-7. Middle Georgia would get two runs in the bottom of the eighth but it wouldn't be enough as the Bulldogs were able to stop the rally and maintain a six run margin of victory.
The Bulldogs sent Alex Escobar to the bump for the start against the Knights. He went five and a third allowing six runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. The Bulldogs brought in Jacob Gilcrease, Zach Reynolds, and Drake Miller out of the pen to complete the job. Reynolds ultimately was credited with the win because the Bulldogs retook the lead while he was on the hill.
Offensively, the Bulldogs scored their 15 runs on 21 hits. Six Bulldogs recorded multiple hits in the game, and three of those six had at lead four hits. James Canar, Noah Nelson, and Hayden Foster each had two hits against the Knights while Gage Ninness, Caleb Feuerstake, and Trevor Johnson had four hits apiece. Nine of the 21 Bulldog hits went for extra bases including doubles by Ninness, Feuerstake (2), Johnson, Canar, Nelson, and Kevinn Castillo and homeruns from Canar and Jake Pearson.
"Today was a nice bounce back day," said Bulldog Skipper Kyle MacKinnon. "Our offense continued to roll, but there are still some things we need to clean up moving forward. We were much better all-around today in general though. These guys fought hard today to keep the season alive and hopefully they bring that same attitude the next couple of days!"
With the win, the Bulldogs are now 40-13 on the season, their first 40 win season in program history. They will be back in action again tomorrow morning at 10:00 am cst against the loser of game two today between St. Thomas University and Webber International, who upset the Bulldogs in yesterday's tournament opener.
