No. 1 IU Southeast beats No. 6 Brescia to begin KIAC Baseball Tournament
No. 1 IU Southeast beats No. 6 Brescia to begin KIAC Baseball Tournament
BOX SCORE
(By Scott McClure -- KIAC Commissioner)
KINGSPORT, Tenn. -- KIAC regular-season champ and No. 1 seed IU Southeast notched a 7-3 win over No. 6 Brescia University Wednesday afternoon in the first game of the KIAC Baseball Tournament played at Hunter-Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn.
Grenadiers reliever Ty Simpson (Sr., Gentryville, Ind.), entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and went 5.2 innings to pick up the win. Simpson gave up one run—a solo home run by Brescia's Kenny Rideout (Fr., DH, Owensboro, Ky.) in the bottom of the fifth inning—and raised his record to 7-1 on the season.
IU Southeast opened the game with two runs in the top of the first inning when Kyle Asher (Sr., 3B, Louisville, Ky.) singled to left. Brescia tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Tanner Tow (Fr., 1B, Bedford, Ind.) had an RBI double and he scored on a single by Shawn Callis (So., C, Portland, Tenn.).
The Grenadiers took a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth after scoring a pair of two-out runs. Logan Barnes (Jr., DH, Kokomo, Ind.) singled to centerfield to score the third run and the fourth run scored on the same play when the ball was misplayed in centerfield.
IU Southeast broke open a close game with three runs in the top of the eighth inning. All three runs came after two outs and senior catcher Trent Simpson (Gentryville, Ind.) plated the first run with a double to left-center field.
Logan Coughlin (Sr., Brownsburg, Ind.) paced the Grenadiers' offense with three hits, a run batted in and a run scored. Asher (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) went 2 for 5 with two runs batted in; Matt Volz (Jr., CF, Fort Wayne, Ind.) was 2-5 with two runs scored and an RBI; and Barnes and Zack Reboulet (Jr., SS, Dayton, Ohio) had two hits apiece.
Logan Wilkerson (Fr., SS, Lamar, Ind.) went 3 for 4, Rideout was 3 for 5 with a run scored and a solo home run and Zach Johnson (Fr., 3B, Beaver Dam, Ky.) went 2 for 5 for the Bearcats. Brescia starter Phoenix Cox (So., RHP, Indianapolis, Ind.) struck out five in six innings but was saddled with the loss.
IU Southeast (39-11) will face the loser of Point Park vs. Rio Grande in its next game on Thursday at 3 p.m. Brescia (11-42) will play the loser of Asbury vs. WVU Tech in its next game Thursday at 11 a.m., an elimination game.