NASHVILLE – When two good baseball teams play, pitching and defense become of paramount importance. On Saturday at Jackson Field, the Trevecca Nazarene University baseball team got a highlight-worthy performance on the mound, and they backed it with a solid defensive effort to take a crucial early season Gulf South Conference series win.
Trevecca (15-6, 10-2 GSC) watched as
Logan Harrell dazzled on the mound with eight strong innings, and the Trojans scored late in the game as they defeated No. 5 (ABCA) West Florida (16-5, 8-4 GSC) 5-1 in the rubber game of the three game weekend set. The Trojans won games two and three of the series to hand the Argonauts their first back-to-back losses of the season.
The Argonauts are ranked No. 5 in the ABCA/Nettling Professionals Coaches Poll, No. 7 in the D2 Baseball News Poll, and No. 14 in the NCBWA National Poll.
As the season reaches the approximate one-third mark in the GSC race, the series win for the Trojans moves them into a first place tie in the GSC. Trevecca got a little help from Valdosta State over the weekend, as the Blazers managed to take one from the West Alabama Tigers. The Trojans and Tigers are both 10-2 in the GSC, one-half game clear of the Delta State Statesmen for the GSC lead.
SERIES HISTORY/NOTES
The meeting was the seventh all-time between the two teams - all of them in the last two seasons. The Argonauts swept the season series last year, including a meeting in the GSC Championship tournament, but Trevecca's two wins this weekend cut the all-time gap to 5-2 in favor of UWF.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UWF's Zack Stokes homered on the first pitch of the ballgame, and the Argonauts put two more on base in the inning, but Harrell got Trent Kelly to line out to third to end the threat and limit the damage.
From there, Harrel was outstanding. The junior righty from Hendersonville, Tennessee allowed just three hits and four base runners over the next seven innings as he completely stifled an offense that has a team batting average of .282 on the season. Harrell retired the side in order in the third, fifth, and eighth innings, and he finished the day after firing exactly 100 pitches.
The performance from Harrell allowed the Trojans time to find a rhythm offensively.
Noah Boughton ripped a one-out double down the left field line in the fourth, and two batters later,
Cade Martin singled him in to tie things up at 1-1.
That score held into the seventh when the Trojans broke through again. After UWF retired the first two men of the inning,
Drew Bradley singled to first base to extend the inning. That brought
Landon Rogers to the plate who found a hole up the middle and suddenly the Trojans had runners at the corners with two out. Rogers then stole second, and
Rylan Moses pulled a single through the right side of the infield that scored Bradley and Rogers to put Trevecca up 3-1. The Trojans didn't score again in the seventh, but in the eighth, after a
Cade Martin single with one away,
Cade Moore blasted a 1-1 slider over the wall in left center - a no-doubt home run that instantly doubled the Trevecca lead to 5-1.
Justin Lee entered to throw the ninth in a non-save situation, and while it took him 18 pitches, Lee was able to slam the door on the Argos, and the Trojans took the 5-1 win to claim the series two games to one. Trevecca has now won each of its first four conference series for the first time since 2021 when they won their first six conference weekend sets in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
* Rylan Moses - 2-for-4, 2 RBIs
* Noah Boughton - 2-for-4, 2B, R
* Cade Martin - 3-for-4, R
* Cade Moore - 2-for-4, HR(2), R, 3 RBIs
* Drew Bradley - 1-for-3, R
* Landon Rogers - 1-for-3, R, SB
WP: Logan Harrell (4-1) - 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 SO
LP: Tucker Ricks (3-1) - 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 SO
SV: None
NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
Trevecca hit the road for spring break next week, playing their next six games away from home.
The Trojans are in Tigerville, SC next week for a two-game series at nationally ranked North Greenville (18-2) March 10-11. The Trailblazers are ranked No. 2 in the ABCA and D2 Baseball News Poll and are No. 6 in the NCBWA Poll. Trevecca leads the all-time series 3-2.
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | History
The teams met almost exactly a year ago to the day in Nashville last season. The Trailblazers came away with a pair of wins at Jackson Field.
In game one (Mar. 18), The Trailblazers eventually won one of the wildest games, 14-13. North Greenville struck first with a run in the top of the first. Trevecca dropped a 10-run hammer in the bottom of the inning for a 10-1 lead. North Greenville rallied with a five-run third and trailed 10-6. Trevecca added a run in the fifth, but the Blazers added three in the top of the sixth, cutting the Trojan advantage to 11-9. North Greenville went up for the second time with a five run eighth, leading 14-11. Trevecca made it 14-13 with a two-run eighth.
Recap | Box Score
In game two (Mar. 19), the Trojans jumped out to a 1-0 lead and the teams were tied 3-3 going to the top of the seventh. The visitors scored seven in the top of the seventh and added two in the eight for the 12-3 win.
Recap | Box Score
The Trojans won the first three meetings in the series. They swept a three-game series in Nashville at Jackson Field.
3/3/2006
GM1: Trevecca 10, North Greenville 9
3/4/2006
GM 2: Trevecca 10, North Greenville 0
GM 3: Trevecca 6, North Greenville 2
The action each day will begin at 2:30 p.m..
Then next weekend, Trevecca will head to long-time rival Union University (9-11, 3-8 GSC) for a weekend Gulf South Conference set. The Friday evening game is set for 5 p.m., while the Saturday double header is scheduled for Noon.
