UPLAND, Ind. -- Indiana Wesleyan University baseball will go to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history as they completed a doubleheader sweep of No. 2-seed Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) on Wednesday. IWU won 6-2 to reach the Crossroads League Tournament championship game and secure the NAIA bid.

Game Vitals

• Tournament:  Crossroads League Tournament
• Score:  Indiana Wesleyan - 6   |   Mount Vernon Nazarene - 2  
• Records:  Indiana Wesleyan 36-23   |   Mount Vernon Nazarene 35-18
• NAIA Top- 25 Rank:  Indiana Wesleyan - Not ranked   |   Mount Vernon Nazarene - Not ranked
• Location:   Winterholter Field   |   Taylor University   |   Upland, Indiana 

What Went Down

• Caleb Birkey (SR/Granger, Ind.) led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double and scored on the next at bat on a Tomas Sautel RBI single for the game’s first run.
• MVNU tied it 1-1 in the 4th inning on a Yanni Patten RBI base hit.
• Indiana Wesleyan scored three runs on four hits in the 5th inning to gain a 4-1 lead. Thomas Sautel (FR/Littleton, Colo.) had an RBI infield single, Taylor Staff (JR/Springfield, Ill.) had a RBI groundout to first base, and Derek Shomon (SR/Glenview, Ill.) hit a sac fly to account for all the scoring.
• Craig Nesselhuf (SR/Littleton, Colo.) led off the 6th inning with a home run as the Wildcats extended the lead to 5-1.
• Aaron Saal answered with a lead-off home run for MVNU in the 7th inning for a 5-2 score.
• Caleb Eder (FR/North Vernon, Ind.) delivered a two-out RBI single to give Indiana Wesleyan a 6-2 lead through seven innings.
• Bryan Beachy (SR/Kokomo, Ind.), who entered with two outs in the 7th inning, pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to collect the save. Beachy did not allow a base runner as he retired all seven batters he faced.
• Steve Cabe (SR/Niles, Mich.) was credited with the victory in relief. He did not allow a run on three hits in 2.0 innings.
• Matt Blankenship (SR/Cincinnati, Ohio) started for the Wildcats and he lasted 4.0 innings. He gave up just one run on four hits.
• Thomas Sautel completed a career day at the plate as he was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Sautel finished Wednesday with seven total hits and five RBI in the two wins.
• MVNU ace Lucas Daugherty had allowed two runs or less in every start this season. He entered the game with an 8-1 record and a 0.90 ERA as he had allowed nine earned runs in 89 innings pitched this season. Daugherty allowed six runs in 8.0 innings vs. Indiana Wesleyan.
  
   

Extra! Extra!

• The Crossroads League receives two automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament since there are 10 teams in the league.
• Taylor earned the first automatic bid by winning the Crossroads League regular season. The second bid goes to the Crossroads League Tournament champion or to the tournament runner-up if they play the regular season champion. Taylor clinched a spot in the tournament championship yesterday with a win over Bethel (Ind.).
• The Crossroads League Tournament championship appearance is just the second in program history. The only other appearance was in 2010 when IWU lost 3-2 to Huntington (Ind.).
   

Coaches’ Corner

• Rich Benjamin on reaching the Crossroads League Tournament championship game
  “This says a lot about the commitment of the guys to the process from day one. With all the moments of adversity this year these guys kept punching back. They never stayed down and they have tremendous character. They have taught me a lot about the game this year after managing over 400-500 games. To see these guys show up, like the bullpen and the job they did and getting big outs and going to the next guy, that was really special to watch. I am just really proud of them.”
• Rich Benjamin on clinching the first NAIA Tournament bid in program history
  “Any time in a program you have a check list in the back of your mind and you think about the process it takes to get there and knock out some of those things. This is one of those things. Now when next year’s class comes in we can say we’ve already been there so they don’t have to be the first. These guys have paved the way. It’s a pretty exciting group of guys and I am really proud of them.”

Next Time Out

• Indiana Wesleyan advances to the Crossroads League Tournament championship game against Taylor (Ind.). That game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Winterholter Field in Upland, Indiana.