Phoenix season ends in extra-inning 30-18 loss to No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan

May 20—UPLAND, Ind. — Cumberland had a chance to lock down the win in the ninth as the Phoenix led by six with Tennessee Wesleyan down to its last strike Tuesday night.

But the Bulldogs rattled off nine runs to take the lead in the ninth. The Phoenix answered with three runs to send it to extras. But in the 12th, Tennessee Wesleyan scored 12 runs to get a 30-18 win and end the Phoenix's season in the NAIA Opening Round at Taylor University.

In one of the strangest baseball games ever, one which lasted over five hours long with 15 combined pitchers and over 600 pitches thrown, the Bulldogs pulled away in extras.

Tennessee Wesleyan scored 21 runs in two innings, nine in the ninth to keep the game alive and 12 in the 12th to send the Bulldogs on to Wednesday.

Cumberland used eight pitchers in the game. The staff issued 18 walks and hit three batters while allowing 27 earned runs.

The offense bopped five home runs in the game as Chewy Sanders hit two, Dee Triplett, Tyner Hughes and Juan Moreno each hit one. Moreno went 3-for-6 with three RBI and scored three runs. Hughes went 2-for-6 with five runs driven in. Cole Turney went 2-for-4 with three RBI and four walks. Tim Holyk went 2-for-7.

Tennessee Wesleyan's Preston Welchel entered the game in the seventh as a pinch-hitter and went 3-for-4 with a home run, eight RBI and two walks. Cayle Webster went 5-for-7 with three RBI and five runs scored. Dan Sayre was 3-for-7 with a grand slam in the ninth and scored four runs. Andre Tarver and Carson Ford also collected three hits each. Ford was hitless against starter Ethan Torres through the seventh inning.

The Phoenix announced their presence early in this game as they launched three home runs in the first to chase the Bulldogs ace. Triplett hit a three-un shot to right and Sanders went back-to-back with him with a no-doubter to left-center. Two batters later, Moreno belted a ball over the fence down the left-field line for a 6-0 lead.

Tennessee Wesleyan answered in the top of the second, scoring three runs on extra base hits and RBIs from Braxton Turner and Evan Magill. Chad Picton dumped a single into right to score Magill and cut the lead in half, 6-3.

Tennessee Wesleyan manufactured another run in the third as Tarver hit a single to left. He then went from first to third on a Dan Sayre single and came in to score on a sac fly to cut it to 6-4 through three.

Cumberland capitalized on a free pass and an error in the fourth. A throwing error by Sayre allowed Sanders to move up to third. Moreno then laid down a perfect push bunt that went for a hit and scored a run. Farmer was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Drew Dalton walked to force in a run and Moreno scored on a passed ball for 9-4 lead after four.

Torres and the Bulldogs' third pitcher of the game Jake Sergent worked clean innings in the fifth and sixth.

The Bulldogs chased Torres in the seventh after a walk, hit by pitch and a bunt single loaded the bases. Torres fanned Sayre for the second out of the inning, but pinch-hitter Cody McGill hit a clutch two-RBI single through the right side to end Torres' outing. Tennessee Wesleyan scored one more after Trevor Muzzi entered and walked the first two batters to walk in a run for a two-run game, 9-7.

In the bottom half, Farmer led off with a walk and after sac bunt moved him to second, the Bulldogs issued the free pass to Turney. Hughes made them pay with a huge three-run home run to left field. Two batters later, Sanders jacked his second home run of the game and third of the tournament to give the Phoenix a 13-7 lead.

Tennessee Wesleyan refused to go away as the Bulldogs scored two more in the eighth. But in the bottom half Cumberland answered with two. A hit by pitch and a walk to Farmer and Dalton put runners on first and second for Turney. The duo executed a double steal and Tennessee Wesleyan elected to pitch to Turney who ripped a two-run double down the right-field line to give Cumberland a six-run cushion going to the ninth, 15-7.

Wilson Central-graduate Matthew Jenkinson walked the first two batters of the ninth forcing Cumberland to go to Dillon Bland with two on and no outs with the top of the lineup coming up. He retired the first two batters he faced for the Bulldogs to be down to their final out. But a walk and a grand slam by Sayre gave life to Tennessee Wesleyan. A walk and a single drew the end of Bland's outing as Cumberland went to Ian Schilling to try to close it. But Schilling walked the first batter he faced before giving up a bases-clearing double to Preston Welchel for Wesleyan's first lead of the game 16-15. Two more doubles pushed the lead out to 18-15 before picking up the final out.

In the bottom half, the Phoenix never gave in. With one out, Moreno was hit by a pitch. Duchscherer lined out to get Cumberland down to its final out of the game trailing by three. Farmer drew a four-pitch walk and Drew Dalton was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Turney. Tennessee Wesleyan, not wanting Turney to end the game on a walk-off slam, issued a bases-loaded intentional walk to score a run and Hughes again capitalized with a two-RBI single to tie the game and send it to extras.

Ryan Calvert (4-1) worked around trouble in the 10th and the 11th as the Bulldogs sat down Cumberland in order in both frames. But in the 12th Tennessee Wesleyan hung 12 runs on seven hits against an empty-tank bullpen and two Cumberland errors to bust the game open and get a 30-18 win in extras and move on.

Tennessee Wesleyan advanced to play Point Park tomorrow while Cumberland's season came to a close at 36-15-1.

Turney's final numbers in an offensive season for the ages included a .521 batting average (tops in college baseball at all levels), an NAIA-leading 32 home runs and 79 runs batted in to go with 53 walks. His on-base percentage was .675 and his slugging 1.286.