Cleveland, GA – Southern Wesleyan scores seven runs in third inning to lead them to a 13-11 win over the Truett-McConnell Bears.

Southern Wesleyan recorded 14 hits in the win against the Bears.  Conner Ewing, Julio Justo and Andrew Falgiano led the team with three hits apiece.  Jason Moldenhauer hit a triple in the win.  Moldenhauer, Ewing and DiMarkus Sanders led the team with three RBIs each.  John Garrett and Sanders each posted a stolen base.

Tyler Rio started the game for the Warriors and went 2.2 innings.  Tyler Parry came in to relieve Rio and gained his first win of the season while facing 11 batters and throwing 42 pitches and 26 strikes.  Josh Core came in to close out the game for the Warriors in the win.

Game Vitals

Final: Southern Wesleyan 13, Truett-McConnell 11

Records: Southern Wesleyan (5-15 / CC 1-5), Truett-McConnell (17-6)

Coach Gillespie Says…

"It was good to see our work from Monday and Tuesday pay off today.  We made some changes to our hitting and the guys responded.  We were aggressive on the bases and played well in the field.  Our pen came in and did a great job controlling a high scoring game early on."

How It Happened

Southern Wesleyan started off strong to score two runs in the first inning.  DiMarkus Sanders walked and then advanced to second which Conner Ewing was hit by a pitch.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch to get into scoring position.  Jason Moldenhauer tripled down the left field line to bring both Sanders and Ewing home and take a 2-0 lead.  The Bears countered in the bottom of the first and put two runs on the board to tie the game at two.

The Warriors regained the lead in the top of the second.  With runners on second and third and one out, Conner Ewing grounded out to shortstop to bring Andrew Falgiano home to give Southern Wesleyan a 3-2 lead over Truett-McConnell.  However, in the bottom of the second the Bears rallied back, scoring four runs on six hits to take a 6-3 lead over the Warriors.

Southern Wesleyan started strong in the top of the third inning.  Jason Moldenhauer led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second on a single by Julio Justo.  Both base runners moved up on a wild pitch and Moldenhauer stretched it out to cross home plate to bring the Warriors to 6-4 behind the Bears.  Quinton Bent and Andrew Falgiano took consecutive walks to load the bases.  John Garrett got hit by a pitch to bring a runner home for the Warriors.  With the bases loaded, DiMarkus Sanders singled to left field to bring Falgiano and Bent home.  Garrett stole bases to come home and score another run for the Warriors.  Conner Ewing singled to right center to bring Sanders home.  Trevor Walker was hit by a pitch to move Ewing to second, and then a single by Justo brought Ewing home for the final run of the inning for the Warriors to give them a 10-6 lead over the Bears.

Truett-McConnell's Patrick Overstreet hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, but the Warriors regained their four run lead in the top of the fourth inning.  Quinton Bent got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then moved to second when Andrew Falgiano got walked.  John Garrett grounded out on a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position.  DiMarkus Sanders grounded out to first base, but brought Bent home in the process.  Conner Ewing singled to right field to bring Falgiano home and give the Warriors a 12-8 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Bears scored two more runs to cut the Warriors lead down to 12-10.  The Bears kept the Warriors scoreless until the top of the seventh inning.  In the top of the seventh, Conner Ewing singled to center field and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Trevor Walker.  Jason Moldenhauer singled to left field to bring Ewing home to give Southern Wesleyan a 13-10 lead.  Truett-McConnell scored one more run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but relief pitcher Josh Core kept them from taking the lead with strikeouts to give the Warriors a 13-11 win over the Bears.

What's Next

The Warriors will return to the Con on March 10 and 11 to take on the Pfeiffer Falcons.  March 11 will be Military Appreciation Day with special ceremonies beginning at 11:30 am and the first pitch scheduled for noon.  Southern Wesleyan will remain at home on March 14 to take on Young Harris.