GAME 14: Tennessee Wesleyan braves the elements, puts out the Fire

No Avista NAIA World Series would be complete without a delay in a pivotal matchup between two of the tournament’s top teams.

Inclement weather at Harris Field in Lewiston on Tuesday transformed the loser-out matchup between top-seeded Southeastern (Fla.) and sixth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan into a triple-threat contest.

A lightning delay halted play in the top of the fourth inning. However, once the weather cleared, the two teams were able to resume and complete the game as scheduled. Ultimately, the Bulldogs defeated the Fire by a score of 8-4.

“I’ll tell you, man, that’s two really good teams,” Tennessee Wesleyan coach Billy Berry said. “You talk about blue bloods, and I feel like we’re one of them, and they’re absolutely one of them. ... I hate having to play them in this type of situation, but you knew it was going to be a dog fight; we punched, they punched back, and it was a heck of a baseball game.”

The loss put an end to Southeastern’s run in Lewiston, while Tennessee Wesleyan (43-18) will play fifth-seeded Reinhardt at 6:35 p.m. today at the same site.

Dealing with it

The strong winds at Harris Field started to impact the game early on. The gusts were so powerful that they were blowing the hats off the Fire’s defenders.

Kruise Newman of the Bulldogs hit a triple that zig-zagged away from the Southeastern right fielder, aided by the 19-mph winds in Lewiston. Newman raced around the bases at a similar pace to the gusting winds, then scored in the next at-bat to tie the game 1-1.

In the top of the third inning, the Fire’s leadoff hitter, Cristopher Munoz, advanced to third base on a bunt, continuing the team’s streak of uninterrupted baserunning.

He reached first base safely, and an errant throw allowed him to advance to third. In the next at-bat, second hitter Alfonso Villalobos drove Munoz in with an RBI single, putting Southeastern (52-9) back in the lead at 2-1.

In the same frame, the wind disrupted play again. Isaac Nunez struck out looking, and Bulldogs catcher Daniel Stewart tried to pick off Munoz at first base. However, Stewart’s throw was disrupted by the winds, which forced Tennessee Wesleyan first baseman Evan Magill to make a leaping catch, avoiding an error.

The Bulldogs escaped the top of the third inning by turning a double play.

Magill hit a standing double that drove in a run, tying the game at 2-2 for Tennessee Wesleyan in the bottom of the third.

Pitcher Danny Batcher’s strikeout of Cayle Webster helped limit the damage.

Magill also recorded a two-RBI single to bump Tennessee Wesleyan’s advantage to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth.

A 45-minute delay occurred at the start of the fourth inning because of lightning, as the inclement weather continued to disrupt the game.

“It speaks to our kids,” Berry said. “We talk about it all the time, deny the circumstances, and just play, so there are things you can control and there are things you can’t control, and this is our second weather delay since we have been here. Both teams had to go through it, and I don’t think it played a factor.”

Bulldogs find their bark

Following the delay, the offenses went quiet, going scoreless for one and a half innings.

Tennesee Wesleyan broke the seal.

Jack Stevens recorded a single, and Marco Martinez reached second following a fielding error, putting both Stevens and Martinez in scoring position.

Caught off guard by a wild pitch, Southeastern catcher Luis Gonzalez watched helplessly as the ball rolled 9 feet to his left, allowing the runner to score. Confused by the umpire’s call of ball four, Gonzalez first moved toward the ball, then hesitated, trying in vain to retrieve it. But his delay proved costly, as TWU capitalized on the opportunity to take a 3-2 lead by the time Gonzalez finally reached the ball.

Cayle Webster’s sacrifice bunt surprised Gonzalez again, causing him to misfire the throw to first base. This allowed another run to score, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-2.

“That’s a whale of a pitching staff over there,” Berry said. “They have some of the best arms in the country, so we had to just grind ABs out, and that’s what we did. The difference between last night and tonight is that last night we had guys on base, we had bases loaded with nobody out, and we scored one run. ... Tonight was a different story; we were able to cash in.”

Fire comes roaring back

Tennessee Wesleyan held Southeastern scoreless following its three-run spurt, highlighting a three-inning stretch where it held the Fire off the scoreboard.

However, in the top of the seventh inning, Southeastern scored four runs to tie the game at 6-6, the third time it had evened the score that night.

Munoz ended the scoring drought with an RBI single, cutting the Fire’s deficit in half. A couple of at-bats later, an errant throw at first base allowed another run to score, making the tally 6-4.

Isaac Nunez’s single ended Bulldogs pitcher Gage Vailes’ outing. Vailes allowed four runs on seven hits and struck out four batters before being pulled from the game.

“He’s a dawg,” Berry said. “Gage has been playing really well; we’ve used him in a couple of different ways. He’s been a starter, he’s been a bullpen guy, he’s been a closer, he has eight saves on the year as well. He’s a senior man; you want to keep the uniform on for one more day.”

Gary Lora’s two-RBI double tied the game, preventing Vailes from earning the win on the mound.

As the Tennessee Wesleyan offense retook the plate following a prolonged top of the seventh inning, the raindrops resumed falling.

A Dante Leach single loaded the bases with no outs, and Southeastern elected for a pitching change, bringing in Jake Cohen.

The pitcher registered one out, but a Jack Stevens two-RBI double into shallow center field broke the tie for the final 8-6 margin.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.

AT A GLANCE

Tennessee Wesleyan 8

Southeastern 6

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Tennessee Wesleyan pitcher GAGE VAILES struck out four batters and allowed three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings on the mound.

Bulldogs’ first baseman EVAN MAGILL was 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI.

Southeastern second baseman CHRISTOPHER MUNOZ was 3-for-5 at the plate and scored three runs.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“Just field the doggone ball and throw the doggone thing across the infield. That’s the biggest thing right now. We were fielding .969, almost .970, coming into this thing. We just got to relax a little bit; hopefully this (win) helps us relax a little bit. Look at the road we had to go through (to get here); we played the No. 3 seed, the No. 2 seed and the No. 1 seed, and so we’ve earned every bit of being here. I’m proud of our guys and proud of the way we play.”

— Billy Berry, on his team’s fielding miscues and path to get to Day 5 of the Series.