Championship Central |
Tournament Bracket
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Four programs earned wins on the opening day of the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Baseball Championship Tournament, compiling more than 15 hours of game time from Lou Brock Sports Complex on the campus of Lindenwood University.
Division winners University of Illinois Springfield and Lindenwood each secured wins, as did University of Indianapolis and University of Southern Indiana.
UIndy opened the day with a walk-off homer, while Southern Indiana followed and Illinois Springfield capped the night with a one-run victory.
Four games are now set for Friday, with Quincy University and Missouri S&T scheduled for 9 a.m. CT in an elimination game. Lewis University and Rockhurst University will also battle for the right to stay in St. Charles at 12:30 p.m., while Lindenwood plays Southern Indiana at 4 p.m. and Illinois Springfield meets UIndy at 7:30 p.m.
DAY ONE RESULTS
#2B UIndy 6, #3G Rockhurst 4
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Caleb Vaughn capped a UIndy comeback with a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth to give the Greyhounds a 6-4 victory over Rockhurst in the day’s opening game on Thursday. Rockhurst southpaw Jack Eisenbarger tossed seven scoreless frames as the offense plated four runs; however, the wheels came off in the eighth inning when UIndy’s Trey Smith and Alex Vela began a three-run inning to cut the deficit to one.
After a clean top of the ninth from reliever Alec Burnett, Brian Keeney singled home the tying run to set up the walk-off. Two batters later, Vaughn recorded his third of the morning to move the Greyhounds on in the winners’ bracket.
Vaughn was the lone player in the game to record three hits, while he also scored twice. Rockhurst’s Connor Ellefson and Tommy Kraus tallied a pair of knocks apiece, while Tyler Stamer’s two hits were doubles. It was the first meeting between the Hawks and Greyhounds since the 2016 GLVC title game.
#3B Southern Indiana 3, #2B Quincy 2
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USI,
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After trading two-run first innings in the day’s second game, starting pitchers Riley Martin and Garrett Welch honed in over the next five frames. Southern Indiana rattled Quincy’s Martin in the seventh, as Kobe Stephens singled through the right side to score Adam Wildeman and give the Screaming Eagles a 3-2 lead. Tyler Hagedorn worked around three walks and one hit allowed to strike out three Hawks and not allow the game-tying run.
No insurance runs were needed over the eighth and ninth innings for the USI offense, as Austin Gossman earned his first save of the season with a scoreless frame on just seven pitches.
Stephens picked up two hits in the win, while Wildeman reached base three times. Welch threw six innings on the bump for the Screaming Eagles, striking out three and surrendering two earned runs.
#1B Lindenwood 8, #4G Missouri S&T 4
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LWU,
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In a game with tough at-bats, it was a five-run fourth inning for Lindenwood that ultimately lifted the Lions to an 8-4 victory on Thursday. Missouri S&T plated two in the top of the first with hits from Doug Wood and Andrew Branson, and led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third. Alex Canty was instrumental in the Lions’ comeback, singling Bryce Beckmann home in the third and poking a two-run double down the left-field line in the fourth to give Lindenwood a 7-3 advantage.
What proved to be more than enough on the offensive end, starting pitcher Blake Beckmann stepped up with four-run ball over seven innings with seven strikeouts over 98 pitches. Justin Taylor silenced the Miners over the final two innings, punching out half of his six batters.
Kolby Schulte was perfect at the plate for Lindenwood with a 4-for-4 effort, while Canty drove in three. Six Lions recorded an extra-base hit, with Beau Collier joining Schulte with a triple apiece.
#1G Illinois Springfield 11, #4B Lewis 10
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UIS,
LEWIS
Offense reigned supreme in the final game on Thursday evening – that spilled into early Friday morning despite the 7:45 p.m. CT first pitch due to a total of 417 pitches being thrown. Lewis jumped Illinois Springfield starter Colton Hale for four runs in the first inning, as Jackson Dvorak opened the scoring with a two-run single. Despite trailing 5-1 heading into bottom of the fourth, however, the Prairie Stars exploded for seven runs with Nick Mayerhofer joining Zion Pettigrew and Chris Monroe with knocks that plated UIS runs.
Brandon Bannon added a pair of insurance runs, which would prove to be of the utmost importance, in the seventh with a two-run single that scored Austin Alderman and Chris Mathieu. Trailing 11-8, pinch-hitter Angelo Cantelo followed a Dvorak knock to shrink the deficit to a single run. The Flyers refused to quit, loading the bases in the ninth before Cameron Zunkel punched out Julian Everett at 12:17 a.m.
UIS finished with 14 hits and nine walks, with Pettigrew reaching base on five occasions. Mayerhofer and Monroe each drove in a team-best three runs, while Mathieu scored twice and drew three free passes. Mason Coon earned the win, tossing 2.1 innings in relief.