GREENVILLE, Tenn. – The Trevecca Nazarene University baseball team (4-1) split a pair of seven-inning non-conference games, 4-1 and 3-10, at Tusculum College (7-4) on Monday at Pioneer Park.

Trevecca returns to action on Friday, Feb. 26 at Jackson Field on the Trevecca campus when they host nationally ranked Quincy University at 6 PM. D2BaseballNews.com ranked Quincy first and Trevecca second in their preseason NCAA D2 Midwest Region poll. Quincy is ranked No. 15 and the Trojans are ranked No. 21 in their Feb. 16th NCAA D2 National poll.

On Saturday, Feb. 27 the Trojans will face Wayne State University (0-0) at 3 PM and future G-MAC member Walsh University (1-3) at 6 PM. Trevecca is 1-1 all-time against QU, splitting a double header last year at Jackson Field. TNU took two of three against WSU last year, also at Jackson Field. The Purple and White will be playing Walsh for the first time. 

The QU Hawks are the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) pick to win the Midwest Region and were ranked 12th in the NCBWA NCAA Division II preseason poll. The Hawks are 9th in the first regular season poll. Quincy is No. 21 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II poll. Trevecca is getting votes.

The Warriors of Wayne State are picked second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division. The Cavaliers of Walsh are picked sixth in the GLIAC South Division.

GAME ONE

Trevecca plated a pair of runs in their half of the second inning. The inning started with a hit and then a double play for the Pioneers, but Micah Blount (SR/Birmingham, AL) re-started the Trojan offense with a two-out single up the middle. Three more singles followed. Ethan Hurt (JR/Pegram, TN) was next to reach before Tyler Burns (SO/Tullahoma, TN) and Ryan Arington (JR/Cincinnati, OH) finished the streak and drove in Blount and Hurt.

Tusculum scored two in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.

Trevecca put two more on the board in the fifth after Tyler Burns led off the inning with a single and Ryan Arington followed with a walk. After a Pioneer pitching change and an out, Griffin Ganick (SO/Brentwood, TN) reached on a fielder's choice that loaded the bases after an error by the TC second basemen. After the Pioneers got the second out on the Trojans, Bryson Shelton (JR/Powell, TN) came through with what would be the game-winning hit, a single that drove in Burns and Arington.

The Pioneers tallied a run in the fifth, but it was a run short of tying the game and the Trojans held on to win 4-3.

Trevecca had eight hits and had an error while Tusculum had nine hits and two errors.

Bryson Shelton was 2-for-2 with a stolen base, two RBI, and a walk. Tyler Burns was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Ryan Arington was 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk.

Jesse Peters (FR/Loveland, OH) pitched four innings to pick up his first win (1-0) while allowing five hits, two runs – both earned, and a walk with four strike outs. Austin Sisk (SR/Kodak, TN) pitched two innings and gave up one run on three hits and a walk with a strike out. Mason Dunn (SR/Goodlettsville, TN) turned in a one-hit one-inning effort to pick up his second save of the year.

GAME TWO

Trevecca scored a run in the second inning as Bryson Shelton opened the inning with a single and moved to third on the strength of a Zach Tompkins (SR/Mt. Juliet, TN) double. Micah Blount drove in Shelton with a sac fly to right field.

The Pioneers turned the game in their favor with a three-run second inning and a five-run third.

Trevecca plated two in the fourth with a lead-off walk to Chad Sutton (SO/Independence, MO) and a Bryson Shelton single getting things started. An out later Micah Blunt came through again with an RBI-single that scored Sutton. Shelton scored an on Ethan Hunt ground out.

That would be all the Trojans could get across the plate while the Pioneers added a run in the fourth and again in the fifth.

The Pioneers had 17 hits and two errors while the Trojans had eight hits and no errors.

Bryson Shelton was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Micah Blount was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Chad Sutton walked twice and scored. Zach Tompkins had a double.

Ryan Arington started and pitched two innings and was tagged with the loss (0-1) after giving up five runs. Mac Barnes (SO/Arlington, TN), Jack Roberson, Jon Newman (SO/Gilbert, SC), and Christian Lohr (SO/Verona, KY) all pitched one inning each in relief. Barnes allowed three runs to score while Roberson and Newman each allowed a run. The run against Newman was unearned. The five pitchers combined for three strikeouts.