Athens, TN - CIU Baseball played their third ranked opponent of the season as the Rams played the #1 ranked Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs. The Bulldogs (8-2) entered the contest as the NAIA defending national champions as they won the national title during the 2019 season. The Rams (7-9) and Bulldogs clashed in a doubleheader Saturday with the first game showcasing a pitching duel between CIU's Justin Parish and TWU's Kris Koeiman. Game one was a hard-fought battle, but the Rams eventually succumbed to the Bulldogs, and then TWU would run away with game two.

Game One: TWU 5 CIU 1

How It Happened:

• The Rams and Bulldogs stayed close throughout the first three innings thanks to the pitching of sophomore Justin Parish (RHP). Parish had six strikeouts through the first three innings and yielded just one run to TWU.
• The Rams would finally get ahold of the ball in the 8th on the bat of Jake Lewis. Lewis homered to center field in the top of the inning.
• Gaven Causey was walked later in the 8th, and then Trent Polly (pinch running ) reached second on the Carter Willis single.
• CIU would get two runners on bases in the top of the ninth but were unable to capitalize and stumbled 5-1.

Box Score Highlights:

• Buddy Bleasedale, Joshua Hernandez, and Carter Willis all notched a hit in the contest.
• Jake Lewis had two hits and his first solo home run of the year.
• Justin Parish had his second double-digit strikeout game of the season and is quickly proving himself to be one the better young pitchers in the NAIA.

Game Two: TWU 6 CIU:

How It Happened

• CIU opened the game with a single from Joshua Hernandez but was unable to get any points on the board after getting Hernandez on base.
• Tyler Parker struck-out back to back batters to retire the 1st inning for the Rams.
• Trent Frye got on base for CIU after a fielding error from the Bulldogs in 3rd inning
• The Rams saw success from Trent Polly, who threw three strikeouts in the 5th inning.

Box score Highlights

• Joshua Hernandez and Jeb Wilkinson both recorded a hit.
• Tyler Parker and Trent Polly combined for five strikeouts.
• Kyle York closed for the Rams with two strikeouts while yielding no runs.

What Coach Jonathan Johnson is saying:

"You won't make adjustments until your flaws are exposed. Playing teams like TWU will expose those flaws. We know where we are as a team and know the adjustments we need to make. It's time to clean things up and make a run starting next weekend."

Up Next:

CIU returns home on Tuesday, February 25th, to host USC- Beaufort.