Eventful First Day of the Baseball Tournament in the Books

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The first round of the double-elimination AAC baseball tournament is in the books, with three of the four favorites holding serve. Only No. 6 Montreat pulled the upset, beating third-seeded Pikeville 9-7.

The schedule for Thursday is now set. The 9 a.m. game will pit Pikeville against 10th-seeded Union while No. 5 Bryan will meet ninth-seeded Bluefield at noon. Both of those are elimination games.

At 4 p.m., No. 6 Montreat will meet No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan, while the 7 p.m. nightcap will pit top-seeded Reinhardt against fourth-seeded Milligan. The entire tournament is being played at Hunter Wright Stadium.

The tournament is being held at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn.

Tickets are now available and can be purchased by clicking here.

If unable to attend in person, all games will be streamed live online. To watch, click here.

Milligan 10, Bryan 3: Fourth-seeded Milligan scored two in the first and five more in the second and never looked back. Caleb Berry had three hits, including a double, and scored twice while Angel Lobo had two hits, including a homer, driving in three and scoring twice. Gavin Jones, who homered, and Braden Spano had two hits each and drove in a pair apiece. Bryson Lofton, Dante Morton and Devin Ogg had two hits each for Bryan.

Montreat 9, Pikeville 7: Catcher Jeff Cardazzone had five hits and three RBIs as the sixth-seeded Cavaliers knocked off the Bears. Four other Cavs had multiple-hit games as they took the lead for the third and final time with a three-run ninth inning. Joe Tomasello pitched the final 2-2/3 innings to improve to 4-0. UPike's Noah Helton had two hits including his 16^th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the first. 

Tennessee Wesleyan 3, Union 1: In a rematch of last year's championship, Union took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Tyler Bean single to center. It stayed that way until a Kruise Newman triple tied it in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, a double by Jack Stevens put TWU in front and he then scored an insurance run. Sam Rochard won a terrific pitcher's duel, going 8 and recording 8 strikeouts. Ethan Warren went the distance for Union, scattering six hits and striking out three.

Reinhardt 8, Bluefield 6: Catcher Matty Maurer blasted a two-run home run to right-center field in the bottom of the 12^th inning to give No. 1 Reinhardt the win. Bluefield had rallied from a 5-1 deficit with two in the sixth and three in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. The Eagles tied it in the eighth and it remained that way until the homer. Brett Allen pitched the final five innings in relief to pick up the win.

Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, April 30
Game 1 - No. 10 Union (19-27) def. No. 7 Johnson (24-21), 8-6 (box) - Johnson eliminated
Game 2 - No. 9 Bluefield (21-22) def. No. 8 St. Andrews (27-21), 7-3 (box) - St. Andrews eliminated

Wednesday, May 1
Game 3 - No. 4 Milligan (31-18) def. No. 5 Bryan (25-21), 10-3 (box)
Game 4 - No. 6 Montreat (27-23-1) vs. No. 3 Pikeville (30-18), 9-7 (box)
Game 5 - No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan (34-15) def. No. 10 Union (19-28), 3-1 (box)
Game 6 - No. 1 Reinhardt (36-14) def. No. 9 Bluefield (21-23), 8-6 (12 innings) (box)

Thursday, May 2
Game 7 - No. 3 Pikeville (30-18) vs. No. 10 Union (19-28), 9 am
Game 8 - No. 5 Bryan (25-21) vs. No. 9 Bluefield (21-23), 12 pm
Game 9 - No. 6 Montreat (27-23-1) vs. No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan (34-15), 4 pm
Game 10 - No. 4 Milligan (31-18) vs. No. 1 Reinhardt (36-14), 7 pm

Friday, May 3
Game 11 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser, 9 am
Game 12 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Loser, 12 pm
Game 13 - Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Winner, 4 pm
Game 14 - Game 10 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner, 7 pm

Saturday, May 4
Schedule will be finalized following the results of Games 13 and 14. If only one game, it will be played at 2 pm. If only one 'if necessary' game is needed, it will be played at 11 am with the championship game at 3 pm. If both 'if necessary games are needed, the games will be played at 11 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm.