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Columbia International University Athletics

CIU baseball
5
Winner Columbia International (S CIU 11-11, 5-5 AAC
3
Tennessee Wesleyan TWU 22-1, 9-1 AAC
Winner
Columbia International (S CIU
11-11, 5-5 AAC
5
Final
3
Tennessee Wesleyan TWU
22-1, 9-1 AAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Columbia International (S CIU 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 6 1
Tennessee Wesleyan TWU 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 10 0

W: Parish, Justin (1) L: Hollas, Nick (1) S: Garris, Hunter (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | gfrierson

CIU Baseball takes down No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan for program defining win

ATHENS, Tenn. – It takes most programs years, maybe even decades, to knock off the number one team in the country. However, for CIU baseball, it only took them to their second season of existence to achieve the feat. CIU defeated No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (22-1) on Friday by a score of 5-3. The Bulldogs are the reigning NAIA World Series Champions and entered the contest undefeated. This is the second time CIU has played the top-ranked team in the NAIA this season as the Rams opened the year at then top-ranked Southeastern. The loss is the Bulldogs first since March 6th of 2020. CIU moves to 11-11 overall and 5-5 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

How It Happened: The most impactful play of the game came in the first inning after Joshua Hernandez and Rafael Gonzales picked up singles to get on base. Outfielder Robert Bell would then hit a three-run home run to give the Rams the 3-0 lead, and the Bulldogs would never recover. After a home run from TWU in the 2nd, CIU would answer in the 5th. In the top of the inning, Hernandez proved why he is garnering a reputation in the NAIA as the Columbia native pounded a two-run homer to give CIU their 4th and 5th runs of the game. The Bulldogs managed two more runs before the final inning, but CIU's defense would hold. TWU would get two players on base in the 9th, but a ground out ended the contest handing the Rams one of its most monumental wins not only in baseball history but in CIU sports history.

Game Notes:

  • Joshua Hernandez hit his 9th home run of the season and is now second behind only TWU's Gary Mattis in total home runs in the AAC.

  • Robert Bell notched his 5th homer of the season and continues to build off the grand slam he hit in the Rams last series against Point University.

  • As a team, the Rams recorded six hits against a team that only allows just over 4.50 hits a game.

  • CIU was impressive defensively, holding Tennessee Wesleyan to their lowest-scoring game of the season. The Bulldogs average over ten runs per game and are 5th in the nation in that category.

  • Justin Parish once again was solid on the mound with five strikeouts allowing six hits in six innings. Parish picks up his second win over a ranked opponent in his young career.

  • Hunter Garris continues to play well for CIU, closing out the game for the Rams, notching two strikeouts in three innings while recording the save.

What Coach Jonathan Johnson is saying: 

"It was great to see the boys finish a big game. We are still a very young, immature team. We have played five games in our short program history against the current #1 ranked team and had the lead or tied in 4 of the 5. Today was a huge hurdle for us to finally win one of these games instead of just being close."

Up Next:

CIU continues their series with Tennessee Wesleyan tomorrow, March 20th, as CIU looks to win their first series against a ranked opponent.


 
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