2016 G-MAC Baseball Championship Page
MASON, Ohio – In a race against time versus forecasted thunderstorms, the fifth and sixth games of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championship were completed Thursday morning at PRASCO Park.
Both games were bumped up for 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. EST start times.
By the end of the morning, the five remaining teams were trimmed down to four as No. 1 Trevecca Nazarene and No. 3 Alderson Broaddus remained perfect in the winner’s bracket.
Kentucky Wesleyan and Ohio Valley now have one loss each.
Cedarville was officially eliminated to join Davis & Elkins as postseason exits.
Trevecca Nazarene defeated Cedarville at Prasco Park by a score of 10-5 and Alderson Broaddus edged Kentucky Wesleyan on Legacy Field with a 6-4 decision.
Friday’s schedule sets tournament unbeaten Trevecca Nazarene and Alderson Broaddus at 12 p.m. EST on a collision course while Ohio Valley and Kentucky Wesleyan will match up in an elimination game at 3:15 p.m.
All three scheduled games tomorrow at Prasco Park and Legacy Field will include video with live stats.
Moments That Mattered
Trevecca Nazarene’s Sam Mang sliced a two-run single to right field, displaying a solid piece of opposite field hitting to give the Trojans the early lead. He had three total RBI in the game.
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the second inning, Cedarville managed to tie things up by the end of the third frame. The Yellow Jackets strung together some extra-base hits and sharp singles. Joey Chapman had a big two-out RBI to make the score a stalemate at 3-3.
A five-run sixth innings broke open the game as TNU senior catcher Zach Tompkins highlighted the inning with an RBI triple. Cedarville was hurt by two fielding errors and a total of six different pitchers issued a combined 12 walks in the game.
Kentucky Wesleyan scored in its first series of plate appearances, but one swing by Collier -- a ground-rule double -- plated two and gave AB the lead in the third inning.
Collier came up clutch in his next at-bat, emptying the bases with another double to rudely greet a new KWC reliever. He also led off the second inning with a double.
Marquee Matchup
G-MAC Freshman of the Year Zach Burton (Kentucky Wesleyan) and G-MAC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Stage (Alderson Broaddus) were set up for a tantalizing showdown.
Both righties are tops in different pitching categories around the league and in a battle between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, had plenty on the line in their first postseason starts.
Stage lasted 5.1 innings to get the winning decision while Burton was chased out after 3.2 innings pitched. Burton struck out five and was tagged for five runs. Stage recorded three strikeouts and gave up four runs on eight hits.
Starring Roles
Alderson Broaddus slugger Marquis Collier had a day to remember at the plate. The sweet-swinging lefty socked three doubles as part of a perfect 4-for-4 day at the dish and drove in five of the Battlers’ six runs.
Both closers for Alderson Broaddus and Trevecca Nazarene went above and beyond the call of normal duty.
Senior righty Austin Sisk made his 69th career appearance (G-MAC all-time record) and tossed three scoreless innings for the unconventional save against Cedarville.
Alderson Broaddus lefty Chris Boatto did similar work to slam the door shut against Kentucky Wesleyan in relief of Stage. He threw 3.2 innings of scoreless ball to keep the Panthers at bay in a critical game.