MASON, Ohio - Tiffin routed Cedarville and Walsh eliminated Trevecca Nazarene to open Thursday's action at the Great Midwest Baseball Championship. This story will be updated Thursday night after the Ashland-Kentucky Wesleyan game.
#1 Tiffin 14, #5 Cedarville 2 (BOX SCORE)
Top seed Tiffin hung five runs in the 2nd inning and seven in the 5th to eliminate Cedarville 14-2 in seven innings. Tiffin moved to 1-1 in the tournament and will play at 1:15 pm ET Friday.
Griffin Stevens went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and scored three runs to lead TU, which saw four other players each score two runs. Jake Shier had six RBIs and hit a 3-run homer in the 5th inning.
Tiffin's pitching, behind starter Tyler Wehrle, limited CU to two hits on the day and no hits for the first five innings. Wehrle threw 5.0 no-hit innings and struck out seven before handing off the ball to conserve his arm.
#6 Walsh 5, #3 Trevecca Nazarene 2 (BOX SCORE)
Walsh continued its postseason run and moved to 2-0 in the tournament with a 5-3 win over Trevecca Nazarene. The Cavs turned four TNU errors into four unearned runs and for the second straight day proved to be the most opportune team in the 6-team event.
Down 1-0, a TNU throwing error with two outs allowed Walsh to score twice in the top of the 3rd. With the game tied 2-2, Walsh took the lead with an unearned run in the 7th when Joey Holiga scored on a fielder's choice. Walsh added insurance runs in the 8th and 9th to hold off TNU and send the Trojans home for the summer.
Shea Simmer and Brady Maciak each had two hits for Walsh, which reach base six times on walks and HBPs and stole two bases.
Walsh split the 9.0 innings on the mound between Drew Saunier and reliever Nick Lallathin, scattering 10 hits and striking out eight with no walks.
The win put Walsh in Friday's noon game against Kentucky Wesleyan, which has looked impressive in both of its tourney wins.
#4 Kentucky Wesleyan 9, #2 Ashland 3 (BOX SCORE)
After a 13-2 win Wednesday night over TNU, Kentucky Wesleyan turned in another strong performance with a 9-3 win over Ashland. Austin Baugh threw 7.0 innings and allowed just one run with eight strikeouts.
Reece Puckett went 3-for-4 and scored twice and Robert Chayka hit a 3-run home run for KWC, which has won nine of its last 11 games.
It was a brisk 1-0 game until the 6th when Kentucky Wesleyan scored two runs on a play with two errors to lead 3-1. The floodgates opened with three Panthers runs in both the 7th and 8th innings. Ashland scored a few runs late once Baugh left the mound to a standing ovation.
KWC will take on Walsh Friday at noon ET (11 am CT) for a berth into the tournament final.