PIPPA PASSES, Ky. – The Campbellsville Tigers hit the road to compete in the Mid-East Regional Tournament on Thursday, with the winner of the tournament advancing to play in the NCCAA World Series. The Tigers faced off against the Ohio Christian Trailblazers in the opening round for their first match-up in history. The Tigers poured it on the Trailblazers and won the game 16-3.

​Ryan McFarland took the mound for the Tigers in the top of the first inning, making his eighth start and 17th appearance of the season. The Trailblazers threatened early, after a leadoff walk and a single gave them a runner in scoring position. McFarland punched back with a strikeout, and then the runner on second advanced with a lineout to center field. The Trailblazers drew blood with a single to left field first, and then a ground ball to shortstop limited the damage.

​The Tigers' offense couldn't get anything going in the bottom of the first inning, bringing McFarland back out for the top of the second. The righty walked the leadoff man, who advanced on a wild pickoff, and then responded again with a strikeout. The next batter hit a grounder back to McFarland, who caught the runner on second base in a pickle. McFarland walked the next man with two outs and then surrendered a single to load the bases, but he escaped the jam unscathed with a flyout.

​Chasing the deficit, the Tigers looked to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Yosuke Fujie led off the frame with a long solo-home run to center field, tying the game with his 14th homer of the season. After the next two Tigers were retired, Tanner Park put the Tigers in front with another bomb to center field for his seventh of the season.

​McFarland continued on the mound in the top of the third inning and plunked the leadoff man. The Trailblazers put a runner in scoring position with a single to left field, and then a ground ball back to McFarland only got the out at first base. With runners at second and third base, the Trailblazers tied the game with a sac-fly to center field. They then took the lead with a single to left field that plated the runner from second base. McFarland was able to limit the damage with a flyout to the second baseman.

​Now chasing the lead again, the Tigers aimed to take the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning. Trent Buchanan found his way on with a one-out walk, and Antony Gilbert walked with two outs to bring Fujie to the plate. Fujie made the free bases hurt and demolished a no-doubter to right field, putting the Tigers in front with his second homer of the game and 15th of the season.

​Needing to hang a big zero, McFarland continued on the mound in the top of the fourth inning. The righty got the job done and retired the side in order while picking up a strikeout.

​Henry Wright led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single to center field, and then quickly stole second base. Park followed up with a walk, and then Jaxson Grubbs loaded the bases with a single to left field. Still with no outs, Lorenzo Gonzalez cashed in a run for the Tigers, reaching on an error by the shortstop and plating Wright. After the next batter was retired, Zane Skansi walked to bring home Park. With the bases still loaded, Gilbert blew the game open with a moonshot grand slam to left field for his fifth long ball of the season. Still with one out, Fujie kept the rally going with a walk, and then Wright brought him home with a double to left field. Capping off the inning, Park demolished his second homer of the game with a two-run shot to left field for his ninth of the season.

​Following the big inning, McFarland continued on the mound at the top of the fifth inning, in need of another zero. After striking out the leadoff hitter, the righty surrendered a double to left field, but left the runner stranded with a pop-fly and a groundout.

​Looking to add to the lead, Gonzalez led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk. Buchanan found himself on base after an error by the third baseman, and then a passed ball allowed both runners to advance to scoring position. Skansi followed up and got the job done with a groundout to the first baseman that brought home Gonzalez and advanced Buchanan to third base. Not satisfied with the lead, Gilbert plated Buchanan with a groundout to the shortstop before the inning's end.

​McFarland continued on the bump for the Tigers in the top of the sixth inning, now aiming to keep the mercy-rule in order. Although he surrendered a one-out single, the righty stayed in his groove and shut down the Trailblazers' offense for the third straight inning.

​Other than a pinch-hit single from Shoki Fukui, the Tigers' offense couldn't get anything going in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh inning, the Tigers called for Reid Sturn to take over on the mound and close out the game. Making his first appearance of the season, the righty came out hot and retired his first two batters with a flyout and a strikeout. The Trailblazers hadn't given up, though, as the next two batters kept the game alive with blooped singles. It was no matter for Sturn, though, as he finished the game with a grounder to third base.

​The Tigers won the game with 16 runs on nine hits and one error, while the Trailblazers lost with three runs on nine hits and two errors.

​With this victory, the Tigers move on to the Championship series of the Regional Tournament tomorrow, Friday, May 9th. If the Tigers win, they will advance to the NCCAA World Series, but if they lose, they will play a winner-takes-all game to determine who advances. The time of the first pitch in tomorrow's match-up is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET.

• Fujie's 15th homerun of the season places him on the top-ten list for homeruns earned in a single season. He will move up to sixth on the list.