CLEVELAND, Ga. (April 29, 2023) – The Truett McConnell University baseball team closed out the regular season on Saturday in an Appalachian Athletic Conference double-header against Bryan College. The Lions downed the Bears in both games one (9-12) and two (4-6). TMU dropped to 33-15 (17-10 AAC) on the season while BC moved to 31-16 (20-8 AAC). 

GAME 1 | 9-12

The Bears got out to an early 5-0 lead in the second inning after Tanner Griffith and Jake Edwards singled to lead off the inning. Both were brought home with a Jacob Karvelas 2 RBI single to right field to put the Bears on the board first. Caleb Williams and Matthew Redmond assisted in bringing in a couple of more runs with a pair of RBI singles to make it 5-0. The Lions responded in the next inning with two runs, but TMU countered in the bottom of the third by loading the bases, Ethan Roberts drew a walk, and Redmond dished out a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2. BC had a very productive fourth inning, putting up six runs to take the lead. TMU attempted to make a comeback and regained the lead 9-8 in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Griffith RBI ground out. However, the Lions scored four runs at the top of the ninth, resulting in a 12-9 loss for the Bears. 

LEADERS

Caleb Williams went 3-5 at the plate with two RBIs and a run. Andrew Johnston and Griffith also had a multi-hit game with two a piece and both players also scored a run. Karvelas went 1-4 with two RBIs and two runs. 

GAME 2 | 4-6

After getting down 3-0, in the bottom of the third inning, TMU got on the scoreboard after Griffith singled and advanced on an error that allowed Roberts to score from first base to make it 1-3. The Lions scored a lone run in the fourth inning but Russell Kiser lasered a two-run home run to make it 3-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Despite the valiant effort from the Bears, the Lions increased their lead in the sixth inning with two more runs. TMU would get one more shot at a comeback in the seventh cutting the lead down to two runs, but were unable to do any more damage resulting in the 4-6 loss. 

LEADERS 

Ethan Roberts and Tanner Griffith both went 2-3 with a run. Russell Kiser went 1-3 with his two RBIs from the two-run shot in the fifth inning. Caleb Gentry and Karvelas also went 1-3. 

Pitcher Marshall Hongkham struck out two of the three batters he faced in his scoreless inning of relief pitching. 

UP NEXT

TMU will look ahead to the 2023 AAC Baseball Tournament which is scheduled to start Tuesday, May 2. The Bears will play their first game as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed Union on Wednesday, May 3. The tournament will be held at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn.