Box Score LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Coming off a thrilling victory over Saint Xavier (Ill.) earlier in the day, the Midway baseball team returned to the Grizzly Baseball Complex tonight to battle top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett (Ga.) in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
The Grizzlies – who are currently ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – scored early and often on their way to an 18-1 victory, handing the Eagles their first loss of the national tournament.
With the loss, Midway slips to 28-23 overall as they now fall into the consolation side of the Lawrenceville Bracket. They'll return to action on Tuesday, May 16, at 5 p.m. ET where they'll play the winner of the Saint Xavier-Concordia (Neb.) matchup that begins at 9 a.m. ET.
Georgia Gwinnett – who improves to 48-5 with the win – jumped to a 12-0 lead before Midway got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth.
Ryan Davis (Paris, Ky.) got the rally started with a one-out single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Following a groundout, Barrett McGill (Bloomfield, Ky.) ripped an RBI single up the middle scoring Davis from third.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, that would be all the offense they could muster as the Grizzlies scored a run in the bottom half of the fifth before taking on five more in the eighth en route to the victory.
Owen Clark (Knoxville, Tenn.) was handed the loss for the Eagles falling to 5-5 on the year. The southpaw allowed six runs – five earned – on seven hits in two innings of work.
Matthew Poe (Georgetown, Ky.) had the longest outing of Midway's five arms. The left-hander pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. Ryan Lee Hayes (Lebanon, Ky.) got the final three outs without allowing a base runner.
Offensively, the Eagles tallied seven hits with Davis and McGill leading the way. The two tallied two hits apiece, while Grant Hotchkiss (Richmond, Ky.), Shane Taylor (Morehead, Ky.), and Ayden Sciandra (Jacksonville, Fla.) recorded one hit each.
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