Baseball routs third-ranked Wesleyan, just one win shy of national tournament

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - After missing the field entirely a year ago, even qualifying for the Appalachian Athletic Tournament seemed like a big step up for the Union baseball program in 2023.

But if expectations hadn't already risen following a dominant 10-4 opening-round win over Truett McConnell on Wednesday, they blasted through the stratosphere on Thursday, as the fifth-seeded Bulldogs had arguably their most impressive win in years, crushing AAC top seed and nationally third-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan 12-2 in a run-rule final in the second round of tournament play.

Bulldog starter Ethan Warren was in complete control early, recording five strikeouts through four-and-a-third innings of no-hit work. He allowed just four hits and struck out six on the night, coming just one out shy of a complete game.

By the time Warren faced his first bout of adversity, he already had a 5-0 lead. Union scored first on an Angel Mendoza sacrifice fly in the third inning, then blew things open by scoring four runs in the fourth.

Wesleyan got a run back in the fifth, but Union was undeterred, scoring once more in the sixth before completing the upset early with a six-run seventh.

For the second straight day, the offense belted out 15 hits while getting balanced production throughout the lineup, as six different players had multiple hits.

Hazel Martinez followed up a three RBI game in the opener by driving in four runs Thursday, highlighted by a two-run seventh-inning double that put Union ahead by 10. He and Logan Romasanta tied for a game-high three hits.

Luke Pell, who reached in four of five plate appearances against Truett, had another great game, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. He also helped lead a great night on the base pads, stealing two bases for a Bulldog team that was a perfect 6-for-6 on steal attempts.

Mendoza and Nick Seelman also had two RBIs as Union defeated TWU for the first time since March 10, 2019. Perhaps even more impressive, Thursday marked the first time Tennessee Wesleyan, which was 29-1 in the AAC in the regular season, its first loss in a conference tournament game since May 5, 2018.

While still needing multiple wins to secure an AAC title, Union can punch its ticket to the National Tournament with just one more win. It gets its first chance tomorrow night at approximately 7 p.m., when it will face the winner of an elimination game between Truett McConnell and Tennessee Wesleyan, which is set to begin at noon tomorrow.