UPDATE....Cats to face Faulkner Thursday night at 7 p.m.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 4 seeded Bethel Wildcats opened the SSAC Championship presented by Newk's Eatery in Montgomery Wednesday morning with a 16-5 win over the No. 5 seeded Blue Mountain Toppers.
The first three innings were dominated by both pitchers. Bethel's Bretton Hazlewood did not allow a hit through three. Meanwhile BMC's Eli Jackson had seven strike-outs through the first three innings.
That all changed as Bethel exploded for nine runs in the top of the fourth. Nicholas Proto reached base and advanced to second on a throwing error by BMC's third baseman. He advanced to third on a single to center by Lucas Riddick. Juan Torres singled in Proto to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Baylor Steelman made it 2-0 lead driving in Riddick with an RBI single. Torres scored on the same play on another throwing error by the Toppers. Jacob Foster followed with a RBI single. Austin Brenner had a two run double and Ruber Medina had a RBI double. The Cats closed out the scoring with a Proto two run homer. It was his 10th dinger of the season. Bethel sent 12 men to the plate scoring nine runs on nine hits and two Topper errors.
Blue Mountain scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the Wildcat lead to 9-2 after four.
The Wildcats scored a run in the fifth on a RBI by Foster who drove in Torres on a ground out fielder's choice. They added another in the inning on a Brenner RBI single which drove in Jack Surber. The two tallies made it 11-2.
The Toppers scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 11-3.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the sixth. Proto led off the inning with a single. Riddick followed with a single. Torres reached on a BMC error. Proto scored on the Topper miscue. Surber knocked in two runs with a single and the Cats made it 14-3.
BMC escaped the ten run rule after seven with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Leading 14-5 the Wildcats struck again in the eighth as Sebastian Cortes drove in Surber with a RBI single. Foster followed driving in Steelman with a RBI single and the Wildcats led 16-5.
Wildcat hurler Danny Lara shut down BMC in the bottom of the eighth to end the game after eight.
Bethel outhit Blue Mountain 17-5. Every starter had at least one hit for the Wildcats. Foster and Brenner led the attack for the Cats with each driving in three runs.
Hazlewood picked up the win while Jackson suffered the BMC loss.
Bethel moved to 29-18 and will play Thursday night at 7 p.m. facing Faulkner who beat Brewton-Parker Wednesday night 12-0. Faulkner is the No. 1 seeded team in the championship and is ranked No. 4 in the nation. BMC dropped to 26-24 and will meet BPU at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Seeds
1. Faulkner
2. Middle Georgia State
3. Mobile
4. Bethel
5. Blue Mountain
6. William Carey
7. Martin Methodist
8. Brewton-Parker
Day One Schedule: Wednesday, May 1 at Paterson Field
10 a.m. | No. 4 Bethel (Tenn.) defeated No. 5 Blue Mountain (Miss.) 16-5
1 p.m. | No. 3 Mobile (Ala.) v. No. 6 William Carey (Miss.)
4 p.m. | No. 2 Middle Georgia State v. No. 7 Martin Methodist (Tenn.)
7 p.m. | No. 1 Faulkner (Ala.) v. No. 8 Brewton-Parker (Ga.)
News & Notes
- The double-elimination tournament runs through Saturday, May 4, with all games being played at Paterson Field in Montgomery, Ala.
- In the latest NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, Faulkner is No. 4 and Middle Georgia State is No. 10
- The Knights won last year's title, with Faulkner taking home the previous two
Visit the SSAC Championship page at:
http://www.ssacsports.com/2019-ssac-baseball-championship
