Kingsport, Tn. | Number five seeded Truett McConnell (23-24 overall; 12-15 AAC) faced off against number eight seeded Union College (18-27 overall; 9-18 AAC) in an elimination game in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.

Gregory Elder Jr. started on the mount for the Bears. Union would strike first, scoring an early run off a few mishaps from the Bears in the top of the 1st.

A quiet few innings from the Bears called for a breakthrough on the scoreboard. The breakthrough began in the bottom of the 4th, as Josh Johnston led the inning off with a single. He then stole second base and advanced to third base from a wild throw by Union's catcher. Patrick Overstreet found himself on base after being hit by a pitch, and later would steal second base to put runners on second and third base for the Bears. After Overstreet's steal, Calob Rowland hit an RBI-groundout, which scored Johnston from third to tie the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Bears continued to put runners on base. Davis Dasher led the inning off with an infield single. Union's pitcher threw two wild pitches, sending Dasher to second base on one wild pitch and third base on the second wild pitch. With Johnston in the batter's box, he executed a perfect bunt that allowed Dasher to come home from third to take the lead.

The Bears continued to extend their lead in the bottom of the 6th inning. With runners on the corners, Dasher hit a single that sent Shane Smith home from third to extend the Bears' lead over Union at 3-1.

Head coach Mike Croley made the call to substitute Elder in the top of the 7th. Elder left the mound throwing 11 strikeouts on 130 total pitches. Nick Hammonds would be called into the game to replace Elder with a runner on first base and no outs.

The bottom of the 7th proved to be a big inning for the Bears. Four runs would come across for the Bears off RBI's from Jackson Meadors, McClane Ramey, and Austin Thomas, as the Bears lead continued to grow to 7-1.

With Austin Bishop on second base in the bottom of the 7th, Patrick Overstreet blasted a homerun over the left field wall to push the Bears lead to 9-1.

Union attempted to fight back in the top of the 9th, but it was not be enough as they only scored one run. The Bears would eliminate number eight seeded Union College by a final score of 9-2.

The Bears will advance and play the loser of Bryan College (39-13 overall; 21-6 AAC) and Point University (30-22 overall; 16-11 AAC) in another elimination game tomorrow, May 3rd, at 12 p.m. Live stream will be available.