NASHVILLE - The 2013 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championship kicked off with a first round battle between the #3 seed Urbana University Blue Knights and #2 seed Cedarville University Yellow Jackets at Jackson Field on campus of the top seeded Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans in Nashville, Tennessee.

GAME ONE:
CEDARVILLE 8
URBANA 1

Cedarville took an early lead with three runs in the third, highlighted by back-to-back RBI-hits by David Lenhardt and David Ledbetter, capping the three run inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Steve Cardwell extended the lead with his lead-off solo home run over the high wall in left field.

On the mound, Ledbetter started and went four hitless innings before giving way to Jordan Ammon prior to the fifth. Ammon, who was created with the win, worked a hitless fifth, sixth and seventh, keeping the team no-hit effort intact. He carried the no-hitter into the eighth, where Urbana finally posted its first hit and run of the game as Cody Ridinger doubled to left and later scored on a groundout.

The Yellow Jackets, who added two runs in the fifth, added another pair in the bottom of the eighth to cap their scoring. In the top of the ninth, Urbana made things interesting loading the bases with one out, but CU turned to Garrett Baker to close out the game, 8-1, and advance the Jackets to the second game of day one, where they will face the top seeded Trojans of Trevecca Nazarene University.

 
GAME TWO:
CEDARVILLE 6
TREVECCA 5

Cedarville, coming off a tremendous team performance in game one, struggled to get base runners until the fourth inning, but could not score. Trevecca on the other hand managed a run in the bottom of the second and another in the bottom of the fourth. They could have done more, as they had bases loaded and no outs in the second but managed only one run. In the fourth stranded two runners in scoring position.
 
A steady rain that began in the third inning, became a major factor in the bottom of the fifth when the tarp had to be brought out to cover the field, starting what would be a 32 minute rain delay.
 
Following the rain delay, TNU extended its lead on a two-run single by Jordan Foreman. Cedarville answered quickly with three in the bottom of the sixth, capped by an RBI-single by Steve Cardwell.
 
The winner of game two would advance into the finals and need just one win to secure the championship, while the loser would need to win the next three games in order to win the championship. So the final three innings would prove to be important to both teams, as they were not only playing for the G-MAC Baseball Championship, but for the Presidents’ Cup for their institutions as well.
 
In the final two innings, each team plated bases loaded walk to take the lead, with Cedarville taking the second of the two walks and a 6-5 advantage into the bottom of the ninth, where the Yellow Jackets cruised and secured the win.
 
With the two wins on day one, Cedarville advances to the Championship final out of the winners bracket, where they will wait to see who they face between Urbana and Trevecca Nazarene.
 
TNU and Urbana will play the first elimination game at Noon (central) on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the finals, where it will need to beat Cedarville twice to steal the championship away from the Yellow Jackets, who will need just one more win to take the title.