KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Truett McConnell baseball team advanced in the Appalachian Athletic Conference baseball tournament as the Bears defeated No. 25 Point, 9-1, Thursday afternoon at Hunter Wright Stadium. The Bears set a new single-season wins record with the win, getting to 30 wins on the year.
After a Point solo shot in the first, the Bears answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on an Evan Bensch two-out double to right-center, scoring Patrick Overstreet and Calob Rowland to take a 2-1 lead.
TMU scored four more in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run bomb by Overstreet past the left field fence to give the Bears a 6-2 lead. Overstreet hit his second homer of the day in the fifth inning, this time a solo shot that curved inside the left field foul pole to increase the lead to five.
The Bears put up the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth. The first run came on a balk by the Skyhawk pitcher with the bases loaded, followed by a Bensch sacrifice fly to get to the final 9-1 score.
Greg Elder pitched a complete game, scattering four hits and seven walks with nine strikeouts. He currently sits one strikeout away from the single season TMU record.
Tate Gaines finished 2-for-2 at the plate, while Overstreet was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBI.
TMU will play the winner of the 9 a.m. elimination game tomorrow between Point and (RV) Bryan. First pitch for the Bears' semifinal game will be at 4 p.m.
