Box Score For nine innings Wednesday, Campbellsville University and Cumberland University were dead even on the stat sheet with four runs and 10 hits each. But that changed in the 10th, as Cumberland University scored two runs on four hits to take a 6-4 lead. The Bulldogs held off the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning to remain unbeaten in the NAIA Baseball Tournament Opening Round at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, Ill.



Campbellsville ended the game with two runners on base after Brian Chase and Logan Smith collected two-out singles in the 10th. The hits brought Richie Rowland to the plate as the Tigers' winning run. But Rowland, who leads CU with five hits and two home runs in the tournament, got caught with a chopped ground ball to first base to end the game.

"It was just a great ballgame," CU head coach Beauford Sanders said. "The players kept themselves in position and we had the winning run in the box in the 10th. It's what you want everyday."

CU opened the game with a four-run, six-hit first inning. Alex Ponich ripped a lead off single and was bunted into scoring position by Michael Caleb. The senior outfielder from British Columbia later scored on a wild throw by the Bulldogs' third baseman Matt Greener, who threw the ball away on an infield hit by Chase. With a 1-0 lead and two outs a moment later, Rowland took his first at bat of the day and turned a 2-0 pitch into a scuff mark on the pavement of Power Alley road beyond the rightfield fence. The two-run shot was his second of the tournament and gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Colin Bryan stretched it to a four-run lead with an RBI single to center that scored Luke Gadow with two outs.

Through the first inning, CU collected six hits off Cumberland ace Shawn Schaefer(12-0), who averages only 5.9 hits a game. But Schaefer gained control to keep the Tigers in check the rest of the way.

"I thought Shaefer's fastball was up in the first inning and he was working to establish his off speed stuff," Sanders said. "He made adjustments as the game went on and started finding his off speed more than his fastball. He's a tough guy, who's been tough for them all year."

Cumberland responded with one run in the second inning on an RBI single by Max Kautz. Kautz, who hit 4-for-5, in the game later tied the game, 4-4, with an RBI triple to left-center in the third inning. The Bulldogs' other two runs in the third came on a double to the left field wall by David Fanshawe that scored Sam Kikla and Kris Miller prior to Kautz's triple.

Rowland singled up the middle in the bottom of the third, but Cumberland escaped any threat with a 6-4-3 double play hit into by Gadow. However, CU starter Jared Lunardi received the same help from his defense in the top of the fourth when he had runners on the corners with only one out. Green hit into the 6-4-3 double play for the Bulldogs to end the threat.

Lunardi, a junior lefty from Santa Clara, Calif., also struggling early. He entered the game averaging 3.8 hits per game, but gave up nine over the first five innings. He allowed just one over the next four innings.

"His control was just never there. He never got comfortable with his curve ball until late in the game," Sanders said. "But I'm so proud of Jared for not giving in. Everyone on the team knew he wasn't as sharp as he'd been."

In the 10th, Cumberland put two runners on with one out to bring up pinch hitter Jesse Bowman. Bowman looked to rip an RBI single to right, but Smith made a diving catch to rob the Bulldogs for the second out of the inning. However, Cumberland still found the go-ahead runs on back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Dave Weyer and Greg Appleton to take a 6-4 lead. The runs were the end of the day for Lunardi, as Rusty Devitt came in and struck out Kikla to end the inning.

During the game, Ponich set the Campbellsville record for most at bats in a single season with 213, passing Chris Curley's record of 211 set in 2007. Michael Caleb tied the previous record with his single in the ninth inning.

Campbellsville will play again Thursday at 3 p.m. CT in a rematch with host team University of St. Francis. The Fighting Saints beat Mayville State University, 7-3, and Robert Morris University, 4-2, in elimination games Wednesday. Devitt or Curtis Payne is expected to get the start for the Tigers.

No radio will be available for the 3 p.m. CT game, but fans can follow along via Twitter at http://twitter.com/cvilletigers. Live stats will be available unless technical difficulties continue at Silver Cross Field on Thursday.
 

All entries of this diary, as well as tournament updates and live stats, can be found here

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