MASON, Ohio – The Trevecca Nazarene University baseball team (31-21) secured its spot in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament championship game with a 6-3 win over Ashland University (40-13) win at Prasco Park on Friday afternoon.
SERIES HISTORY/NOTES
Despite not playing a game during the regular season, the Trojans improve to 4-2 all-time versus the Eagles, having beaten them twice this tournament. The team's met for the first time in postseason history a season ago, a 6-3 win for the Trojans.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both sides plated a run in the first inning as the Eagles got a one-out RBI single to right while the Trojans got a solo shot from Joey Parliment to even things in the home half of the frame. Consecutive walks for the Eagles set Ashland up to get their second run of the game in the second. A sacrifice fly after a sacrifice fly put two runners into scoring position gave Ashland a 2-1 lead which it would hold until the fourth.
Haven Mangrum led the fourth inning off with a walk before Cole McCallum and David Milam both singled to load the bases. Abbott Lawrence's sacrifice fly to center field tied the game and then Logan West gave the Trojans the lead for good with a two-run single to left field. Josh Griffin stole third and then scored on throwing error for Trevecca's fifth run while Andru Becker knocked in West with an RBI single to center. The fifth and sixth innings respectively went quickly as only a combined four players reached base for both sides.
Ashland went down in order for the second consecutive inning in the seventh while the Trojans managed a double but nothing else. The Eagles inched closer to the Trojans in the eighth with two-out RBI single to right field, but a strikeout got the Trojans out the jam with just a single run allowed. The Trojans were sat down in order in the eighth before closing the door on the Eagles in the ninth.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
* Haven Mangrum was 3-4 with an RBI.
* Cole McCallum went 2-4 with a double and a run scored.
* Logan West was 1-3 with two RBIs, a walk and a run scored.
* Preston Drebes (1-2) picked up the win by tossing 7.2 innings while striking out four and allowing just seven hits and three runs.
* Braden Reece earned his first save of the season by shutting down the Eagles in the ninth behind two strikeouts.
NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
Trevecca punches its way into the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship game where it faces Tiffin University (26-24) tomorrow afternoon.
These two schools have met twice in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament, most recently with the Trojans claiming a conference title from the Dragons in 2021. That game finished 7-6 in favor of Trevecca while Tiffin knocked off Trevecca 15-4 in the second round of the tournament in 2019.
Overall, Trevecca holds an 8-6 advantage over Tiffin in all competitions.
First pitch is scheduled for noon at Prasco Park.
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