MASON, Ohio – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championship bracket was narrowed down to four schools in contention following Thursday’s action at PRASCO Park and Legacy Field.
Ohio Valley continued to generate buzz around the league and the Fighting Scots pulled off their second straight upset as the No. 5 seed.
Top seed Trevecca Nazarene emerged following a compelling pitcher’s duel and No. 2 Alderson Broaddus survived and advanced in consolation.
As a result, OVU and TNU will meet tomorrow at noon, AB and CED will meet in an elimination game at 3:15 p.m. while the 6 p.m. will feature opponents yet to be determined.
Alderson Broaddus 10, Salem International 0 (7 innings)
In a decisive game to open Thursday’s three-game slate, the second-seeded Battlers staved off elimination.
Alderson Broaddus 10-runned the Tigers on the strength of a six-hit shutout hurled by Randy Dobnak. Dobnak, a first-team all-conference pitcher, went all seven innings and fanned eight while walking just one.
AB’s offensive attack was keyed by leadoff hitter Deonte Settles, who went 5-for-5 and scored two runs. Luke Shiflett had three hits, including a triple, Marquis Collier had three RBI and Brandon Quay went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Defensive miscues plagued Salem International for the second straight day in the conference tournament to spoil a strong start by Tigers’ starter Cam Hall.
Alderson Broaddus successfully bounced back after moving to the consolation portion of the bracket following yesterday’s setback in extras to Ohio Valley.
Trevecca Nazarene 3, Kentucky Wesleyan 0
The stars were perfectly aligned for a highly anticipated pitching matchup between two of the conference’s best as Michael Purcell and Matt Pobereyko went toe-to-toe on the mound in the afternoon affair at Legacy Field.
With zeroes flying across the scoreboard as the duo matched each other, the Trojans finally broke through in the bottom half of the sixth inning.
Bryson Shelton set the tone by working the count deep before ringing a double to a right-center gap. Ethan Hurt deadened a bunt for a single to advance Shelton and he would score as Pobereyko’s throw to first was offline.
Purcell was dialed in all afternoon, effectively mixing devastating off-speed pitches to complement his fastball with late movement. He carved up the corners for nine strikeouts and only permitted six hits.
Ohio Valley 5, Cedarville 1
Cody Morris slugged the first home run of the conference tournament, a three-run no-doubter, and J.R. Davis pitched eight strong innings as the Fighting Scots continued to impress.
Morris plated four on a terrific day at the plate that also included a two-out RBI single up the middle.
He greeted submarine reliever Connor Hamilton rudely with a towering blast to deep left field that broke open a 2-1 game at the time.
Fundamental defense was on display as the Fighting Scots combined to gun down a would-be tying run at the plate to end the sixth inning.
A strong throw from Logan Dan to the cutoff man Tyler Proctor relayed to Morris helped keep momentum on OVU’s side.
Riding the coattails of Tucker Hughes’ long start vs. AB, Davis was touched for just one run on nine hits. He struck out two and walked one.