UPLAND, Ind. – The IU Southeast baseball team is one win away from returning to the Avista NAIA World Series after a 3-2 win over No. 17 Taylor on Wednesday.
IU Southeast struck early when
Mason White walked and moved to third on a double by
Luke Powell. A sacrifice fly to center by
Kody Putnam drove in White to open the scoring.
In the bottom of the second
Brayden Hazelwood was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Slater Schield. A single by
Colin Long looked to be enough to score Hazelwood but he was tagged out on a nice throw from right field by Camden Knepp to Jacob Caruso to end the inning.
The Grenadiers tacked on a run in the third inning when White led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by
Trevor Goodwin.
Connor Sims shut down the Trojan offense from there. He allowed three baserunners in the front five innings of the contest and retired nine-straight batters after allowing a walk to start the contest.
In the fourth, he allowed a leadoff single to Mason David, who stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Sims struck out Brennan Frickel to end the threat.
After allowing a leadoff walk in the sixth, Sims recorded a double play and then was relieved by
Cade Reynolds who ended the inning with a groundout.
In the seventh, the Trojans cut the lead in half when Ben Kennedy hit a two-out single to left to score Brayden Manning.
Taylor tied the game in the eighth inning when singles put runners at first and third and a RBI single by Sam Gladd got through to left. Another single by Manning followed by a great throw by Long was in time to beat David to the plate.
The game would not remain tied for long as
Trevor Goodwin hit another clutch home run, to break the tie in the bottom of the eighth.
Garrett Hill allowed a two-out single in the ninth but got flyout to end the game. He worked the final two innings and allowed a ru on five hits while striking out a batter.
Connor Sims got a no-decision but worked five and two-thirds scoreless innings and allowed two hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Trevor Goodwin was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. He has six hits and two home runs in three games in the NAIA Opening Round.
The Grenadiers advance to the championship game of the bracket tomorrow at 11 a.m.
