KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The fourth-seeded Indiana Tech baseball team staved off elimination in the Opening Round of the 2016 NAIA Baseball National Championships with a six-run ninth inning to defeat second-seeded and No. 17
th-ranked Middle Georgia State University, 10-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Hunter Wright Stadium.
Trailing 5-1 heading into the eighth inning, the Warriors offense would come to life with a pair of single from
Brian Hakes and
Tighe Koehring before
Glen McClain smashed a three-run home run to left to bring the Orange and Black within a run of the Knights.
A single from
Mark Carpenter with one out would bring the tying run to the plate in pinch-hitter
Jagen Millspaugh who would get hit on a 3-1 count to give Tech runners at first and second with one out. A sacrifice bunt by
Kyle Mead would advance the runners and bring Hakes back up to the plate, who promptly delivered a three-run bomb to left on a 0-1 count to give the Warriors a 7-5 lead.
The offense was just getting warmed up though as they would go on to score three more runs in the inning with
Charlie Sipe doubling home
Robert Nagel before
Peyton Newsom cleared the bases with a two-out, two-RBI triple to the gap in left-center to extend the Warriors lead to 10-5.
Jason Sterrett would then retire the next two batters quickly and get a 6-4 fielder's choice on the first pitch to Alan Mocahbee after giving up a two-out single to brother Andy Mocahbee.
Sterrett would pick up the win after going 2.2 innings and allowing just the one hit to Mocahbee while striking out one batter.
Jared Harvey went 5.1 innings in the start for the Warriors, allowing three runs, all earned, on nine hits while striking out two.
Hakes, Koehring and McClain would each record two hits a piece while Hakes and McClain would drive in three runs each and score twice. Newsom would finish 1-4 with a triple, a walk and scored once while driving in a run.
Tech (40-19) will face off with fifth-seeded University of Rio Grande (Ohio) in a rematch from Tuesday at approximately 6:30 p.m. at Hunter Wright Stadium following the conclusion of the St. Thomas (Fla.) and Tennessee Wesleyan game, slated to start around 3 p.m.
