Baseball

Bears Come up Short in AAC Tournament

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Truett-McConnell baseball team could not reach that elusive thirty win plateau or get much going in the AAC Conference Tournament.

TMC 2  Point University 8
The Bears drew the Point University Skyhawks in the first round and could not get much going offensively. Truett did dent the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the second inning on an Austin Bishop RBI single that scored Walker Caves, who led off the inning with a single. However, Point scored two runs in their half of the second inning and the third to go up 4-1 and never look back. Truett managed their second run in the top of the fourth inning on a bases loaded walk to Patrick Overstreet that scored Caves, who reached on his second single of the afternoon. However, a strikeout ended the frame without any more damage done.

Point went on to tack on a run in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth for the final 8-2 score. Tate Gaines (2-4), Walker Caves (2-4, BB, 2 R), and Austin Bishop (2-3, BB, RBI) each had two hits in the loss.
 
TMC 4   Milligan College 10
After the opening game loss to Point University, Truett had to face Milligan College. The Bears jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning after Chris Carden was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Buffalos made a pitching change after Carden was plunked and Wyatt Richardson forced a strikeout and a fielder's choice to end the inning without any further damage. Milligan scored two runs in the second inning to take a brief 2-1 lead, but Truett rallied for two in the fourth and a run in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.

In the fourth inning, Sean Cheshire laced a two-run single to left-center with the bases loaded and two out to regain the lead. In the fifth, Chris Carden singled home Austin Bishop to increase the lead to 4-2. The Bears could not hold the two-run lead long. In the bottom of the fifth, the Buffs exploded for five runs on three hits and two walks with the biggest blow being a grand slam homerun. That gave Milligan a 7-4 lead and proved to be too much to overcome for Truett. Milligan tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning and the Bears went quietly through the final four innings for the final 10-4 score.

Truett could not take full advantage of great opportunities in the early frames as Milligan's starting pitcher hit five batters in the first two innings and the Bears left runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings. Jared Oliver (4.1 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 3 K) pitched four solid innings, but the rough fifth inning did him in as he picked up the loss. Chris Stevens (1.2, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) pitched well in relief in his final collegiate appearance. Sean Cheshire (2-4, 2 RBI) had a good game to end his career on with two hits and two RBIs to lead the offense.


Truett finished a game above .500 with a 29-28 mark with 10 more victories than last season. They will lose a lot on the mound in Jared Oliver and Chris Stevens along with the solid infield play and steady bat of Sean Cheshire. Plus the solid at-bats from Caleb Hardy in addition to the great locker room presence those guys provided, but the baseball team should continue to compete and improve upon a good season next spring. Returning a solid group of pitchers headed up by Luke Henderson and two-way threat, Chris Carden. Slugger, Patrick Overstreet tops the list of returning position players with great depth in each outfield and infield position along with good depth behind the plate with Tate Gaines and McClane Ramey.
 

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