In the 2019 National Christian College Athletic Association Mid-East Regional Baseball Tournament, hosted by Oakland City University, five teams met at Pinnick Field on the OCU campus to square off in a double-elimination competition.
The Rams of Bluefield College (23-25), out of Bluefield, West Virginia, entered as the top overall seed in the field of five, while the Hiwassee College Tigers (29-13), out of Madisonville, Tennessee, came in as the second seed. The third seeded Mighty Oaks of Oakland City University (21-13), from Oakland City, Indiana, were followed by the fourth place Eagles of Alice Lloyd College (13-27), from Pippa Passes, Kentucky, and the five seeded Royals of Johnson University (10-29), from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Game one saw #4 Alice Lloyd College take on #5 Johnson University in what turned out to be a high scoring affair. After the Royals built a commanding 12-0 lead, scoring two runs in the second inning, six in the third, one each in the fourth and sixth, and two in the seventh, the Eagles were finally able to get on the scoreboard, plating five runs in the bottom half of the seventh frame. After a scoreless eighth inning, Johnson plated an extra nine runs in the top of the ninth, winning by the final score of 21-5.
Johnson finished the game with 19 hits, compared to six for Alice Lloyd, while the Eagles committed seven errors, while the Royals had two. The winning pitcher for the Royals was Zach Wyatt, while the loser was Dylyn Brown.
In the second game, the third seeded Mighty Oaks took on number two Hiwassee Tigers. Hiwassee struck first, scoring on an error in the second inning. OCU plated one run in the fourth, and another in the fifth to take a 2-1 advantage, but the Tigers evened the contest with another unearned run in the bottom half of the seventh inning. With two outs the top of the ninth, OCU's
Devan Franz singled down the left field line, driving in
Will Davis, to give the Oaks a 3-2 lead. After the Oakland City starter,
Dillon Whitten, went eight complete innings on the mound,
Tristen Cummings came in for the save in the ninth, retiring the Tigers in order.
Whitten earned the win, his ninth of the year, while striking out 10, while Cameron Alday was charged with the loss, after walking the leadoff batter in the ninth inning. The Oaks finished with six hits, compared to four for the Tigers, while each team committed two errors.
The final game of day one saw the Royals face the top seeded Rams of Bluefield College. The Rams struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the second inning. BC continued to increase their lead, plating one more in the third and fourth frames, then adding five more in the fifth, moving their lead to 9-0. Johnson finally broke through in the eighth, scoring twice, but were unable to mount enough of a rally, as Bluefield won 9-2.
Steven Estep, Bluefield's starting pitcher, left the game with an injury on the final play of the first inning, which opened the door for Justin Meza, who pitched seven innings to earn the victory. Noah Malicoat earned the loss, pitching the first innings for Johnson University. The Rams had 12 hits, compared to eight for the Royals, while BC committed the game's only error.
In day two action, Oakland City will face Bluefield College at 9:00, with the winning team earning a spot in the championship game on Wednesday, while the losing team will drop into the losers' bracket to take on Johnson University at 3:00. At noon, Hiwassee College will face Alice Lloyd College looking to advance to the consolation semi-finals.
The winners of the 12:00 and 3:00 games will square off on Wednesday at 11:00. The winner of Wednesday's first contest will advance to the championship game, where they will need to win twice in order to claim the title, as well as the automatic berth in the NCCAA National Tournament.
Each regional game will have
live stats for those unable to be in attendance.
