MARION, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University baseball lost a pair of tight ballgames on Tuesday night at Wildcat Field to No. 22-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) in the Crossroads League finale.
Indiana Wesleyan lost 4-3 in the opening game and then fell 7-5 in 9 innings in the nightcap. IWU ended each game with the tying run on base.
Mount Vernon Nazarene had already clinched the Crossroads League regular season championship with a 23-3 league mark. Indiana Wesleyan completes the league season at 13-15 and will be the No. 6 seed in the Crossroads League Tournament that begins on Saturday.
In the opening game on Tuesday, Indiana Wesleyan entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 4-1. Logan Tomlinson (SO/Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) singled home Thomas Barnes (SR/Marion, Ind.) and Cam Screeton (SR/Rochester, Ind.) hit a bases loaded sac fly to trim the deficit to 4-3. Matt Donker (FR/Holland, Mich.) advanced to third base on the throw home but he was stranded as Taylor Staff (SO/Springfield, Ill.) hit into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
Matt Blankenship (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) took the loss as he allowed four runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. Kaleb DeFreese (SO/Bristol, Ind.), Tomlinson, and Craig Nesselhuf (JR/Littleton, Colo.) all had two hits in the loss as Indiana Wesleyan outhit MVNU 8-6.
In game two, the Wildcats trailed 5-3 heading into the seventh inning. Preston Fugita (SR/Littleton, Colo.) drove home a run with a bases loaded fielder’s choice to second base. With two outs and runners on the corners, Screeton hit a ground ball to shortstop that was misplayed as Tomlinson scored the tying run.
The Cougars scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take a 7-5 lead. The Wildcats had two walks with one out in the home half of the ninth as the tying run reached first base. MVNU made a pitching change to Kenny McCambridge. He threw one pitch and induced a Screeton game-ending double play.
Both teams finished the game with 12 hits. DeFreese led all players with a 4-for-5 performance while Barnes and Cody Calvert (SR/Godfrey, Ill.) each added a pair of hits.
Indiana Wesleyan completes the 2015 regular season on Thursday with a non-league doubleheader vs. Goshen (Ind.) at Wildcat Field. First pitch is at 6 p.m. Indiana Wesleyan opens the Crossroads League Tournament on Saturday with one game at No. 3-seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) in Spring Arbor, Michigan.
