MARION, Ind. – The second-seeded Indiana Wesleyan baseball team lost to fifth-seeded Indiana Tech Wednesday afternoon in an elimination game in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament by a score of 11-6. It marked the final game in an outstanding season for the Wildcats.  


GAME VITALS

• Indiana Tech 11, Indiana Wesleyan 6
• RECORDS: IWU 44-14; IT 34-26

INSIDE THE BOX 

• Trailing 2-0 in the top of the second, the Wildcats quickly knotted the score. MJ Stavola led things off with a single and scored on Nick Coy's double. Moments later, Denver Blinn's double plated Coy, tying the contest at 2-2.
• In the third, Tanner Killian's singled to left field and scored when Lucas Goodin blasted a two-run shot over the center field wall for a 4-2 advantage. 
• The Warriors pulled within one at 4-3 with a run in the fifth and took a 6-4 lead after a three-run seventh inning. 
• The Wildcats made it a 6-5 with a run in the eighth. With two down, Stavola ripped a double down the left field line. He scored on Blake Storr's base knock to right field. 
• Indiana Tech scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth, taking an 11-5 score heading into the ninth stanza. 
• Blinn launched a lead-off homer in the top of the ninth to straight-away center field, but the Wildcats could not get any closer.
• Blinn led the way with a three-hit performance, including a round-tripper and a double. Coy, Goodin, Stavola, Storr and Tye Thixton all had multi-hit performances. Blinn, Coy and Goodin each drove in a pair of runs. Stavola crossed home a team-high two times.
• For the game, the Wildcats pounded out 14 hits.
• Austin Swift struck out five batters on the day while Jake Engelkes had one strikeout. Jon Young and Braedon Norman combined for an inning of work. 

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• Indiana Wesleyan registered a program-best 44 wins on the season.
• The Wildcats rattled off a 16-game winning streak spanning from Feb. 26 – March 13.
• IWU won the Crossroads League regular-season title and captured its first Crossroads League Tournament title since a co-championship in 2016. 
• Hunter Hoffman was tabbed the NAIA Pitcher of the Week after totaling 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings of work in wins over Taylor and Huntington. It marked the first NAIA Baseball award since the 2017 season.
• Denver Blinn and MJ Stavola tied for the team lead with a .376 batting average while nine student-athletes batted over .300.
• Tye Thixton smashed a team-best 14 round-trippers and led everyone with 60 RBI. Thixton, Blinn, Lucas Goodin, Colby Jenkins and Tanner Killian all had over 50 RBI.
• Jon Young led everyone with a 9-0 ledger and a team-low 2.67 ERA. Young and Jake Engelkes each threw two complete games on the season while Hoffman and Isaiah Rivera had one complete game apiece.  
• Max Engstrom limited opponents to a .143 batting average.
• The pitching staff combined for a 4.74 ERA and held opponents to a .245 batting average (compared to .317 by the opponents). 
• Collectively, the team swiped 93 bases on the season, including five with double-digit steals. 

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