BU falls in MCAC title game to No. 5 Eagles, 12-8
Fifth-ranked Eagles claim MCAC Tournament title ... Extend winning streak to 25 ...
Box Score | Tournament Website
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- Fifth-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan University extended its winning streak to 25 games by claiming a 12-8 win over Bellevue University in the championship game of the 2014 MCAC Baseball Tournament at Bill Doenges Memorial Park Stadium.
Oklahoma Wesleyan improved to 52-6 on the season and received the leagues' automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships. The NAIA Opening Rounds wil take place on May 12-15.
The 18th-ranked Bruins (37-15-2) will await word of their post-season fate when the baseball national championship qualifiers are announced on NAIA.org at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 9.
Despite only being outhit, 12-11, the Bruins were plagued by seven errors as only four of the Eagles' 12 runs were earned.
Four Bruins registered two hits in the loss. Charlie Krueger finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and an RBI. Galli Cribbs and Devin Ferguson each drove in a pair of runs. Nate Mullins finished 2-for-5 with a home run and an RBI.
The Eagles took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when a single by Will Price and an error by right fielder Krueger led to three Eagle runs.
Bellevue answered with two runs in the third when a bases-loaded ground out by Cribbs allowed Tyler Blood and Frank Haskett to score.
The Bruins took the lead at 4-3 in the fourth when Krueger and Mullins led off the inning with back-to-back solo homers.
Kyle Kinman's ground-out RBI gave BU a 5-3 advantage in the fifth.
OKWU regained the the lead at 8-5 in the bottom of the fifth on a grand slam by Cody Riley and after a single by Garret Easton and a Bruin fielding error allowed Price to score from second.
Bellevue responded in the top of the sixth on an RBI triple by Ferguson and a ground-out RBI by Joe Mancuso that reduced the deficit to 8-7.
The Eagles extended the lead to 12-7 in the bottom of the seventh, scoring on a two-run single by Easton and two-run fielding error by Kinman in left field.
An RBI single by Ferguson cut the Eagle lead to 12-8 in the top of the eighth.
The Bruins made it interesting, loading the bases in the top of the ninth, before Eagle reliever CJ Gregory ended the contest by striking out Mullins, giving OKWU the title.
Rory Young (1-3) suffered the loss, allowing eight runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks in four innings on the mound.