Heading into Tuesday’s elimination contest between No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan at Harris Field, no team with as low a ranking as the Wildcats had ever taken down both of the top seeds in one tournament through the two decades since the Avista NAIA World Series adopted its seeding system.
At the game’s conclusion, that statement remained true — but only just. The Fire kept their hopes for a successful title defense alive after rallying from a three-run deficit during the late innings and defusing a bases-loaded powderkeg in the top of the ninth to prevail 6-4.
“Hats off to (the Wildcats),” said acting Southeastern head coach Eric Dahl. “That is a really, really good club; honestly, probably underseeded. There is a lot of talent there — that’s a group that has been around together for a long time, and they play really good baseball. Coming out and being able to beat them in an elimination game is huge.”
It was a defensive stalemate for four full innings, with the teams sitting scoreless and errorless until Luke Roman of Indiana Wesleyan (41-20-1) broke through in the top of the fifth, running the gauntlet on a single, a stolen base, a sac fly from Lucas Goodin and an RBI shot from Ty Mathews. Two more IWU runs followed by another scoreless bottom of the inning from Southeastern had it looking as though the Wildcats might very well be about to put the Fire out, adding one more upset result to a considerable collection.
Southeastern catcher David Castillo started the rally in the bottom of the sixth, sending a solo home run blast over right center field to get his team on the board at last. He would shift gears with a push bunt the next inning to load the bases, setting the Fire up to surge into the lead.
“He kind of sparked our offense today, so big props to David,” Dahl said.
The lowlight of the game for Indiana Wesleyan came just after Southeastern (57-5) pulled into a one-run lead in the seventh with two outs on the board, when Isaac Nunez hit a short pop fly toward right field that Wildcats catcher Bryce Ginder and third baseman Goodin (cutting across the field) both angled to grab for the inning’s third out. Goodin ultimately asserted himself, only to drop the ball and allow Jose Marcano to reach home for what would prove to be the game’s final run.
Danny Batcher started at the mound and notched six strikeouts in 4ž innings before Andrew Long recorded the win in relief after 2 for the Fire, but it was Reece Wissinger who provided the pitching highlight of the day as he came in during the eighth for the save. The 6-foot-5 right-hander delivered a three-up, three-down strikeout performance to close that frame. He would encounter more resistance with two outs in the ninth as back-to-back Wildcat batters reached after surviving full-count scenarios to load the bases and threaten one more turn of tide — but the sophomore from Burlington, Iowa, bore up under pressure to end things with an exclamation point as IWU’s MJ Stavola struck out swinging.
“Reece has one of the best arms in the entire country, and we’re lucky to have him,” Dahl said. “We’ve got all the confidence in the world that Reece is going to go and do a good job for us.”
INDIANA WESLEYAN SOUTHEASTERN
Goodin 3b 4 0 1 0 Pigozzo cf 2 1 1 1
Mathews lf 5 1 2 2 Nunez ss 4 0 1 0
Thompson lf 0 1 0 0 Herrera 2b 4 0 1 2
Salmon dh 4 1 0 0 Lora 1b 4 0 1 0
Jenkins 1b 4 0 1 0 Bryant lf 3 1 1 1
Willard pr 0 0 0 0 Mella lf 1 0 0 0
Ginder c 4 0 3 2 Cullen dh 4 1 2 0
Yoder pr 0 0 0 0 Marcano 3b 3 1 0 0
Stavola rf 4 0 1 0 Castillo c 4 1 3 1
Morton cf 3 0 0 0 Block rf 3 1 0 0
Engelsman ss 4 0 1 0
Roman 2b 3 1 1 0
Totals 35 4 10 4 Totals 32 6 10 5
Ind. Wesleyan 000 030 100—4 10 2
Southeastern 000 003 30x—6 10 0
Indiana Wesleyan ip h r er bb so
Buckley 6 6 4 2 1 2
Olsen (L, 2-1) 0 1 2 1 1 0
Eldridge 2 3 0 0 0 2
Southeastern ip h r er bb so
Batcher 4.2 5 3 3 3 6
Long (W, 8-0) 2.1 3 1 1 0 2
Wissinger (S, 6) 2 0 0 1 5 0
Attendance — 205.
AT A GLANCE
Indiana Wesleyan 4
Southeastern 6
STARS OF THE GAME
Catcher DAVID CASTILLO sparked the Southeastern offense with a home run in the sixth and loaded the bases with a successful bunt in the seventh. Relief pitcher REECE WISSINGER racked up five strikeouts in just two innings pitched, the last of those coming with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to clinch the victory.
QUOTE OF NOTE
“In that situation, there’s not a single guy we’d rather have on the bump.”
— Southeastern coach Eric Dahl on Wissinger’s performance
