Kingsport, TN - Everything was set up beautifully on Thursday evening with both #1 Tennessee Wesleyan and #2 Reinhardt to have games Friday afternoon against teams coming into the game having previous games that morning, however, Mother Nature would not allow this to happen. All schedules ended up being pushed back and the two early games were moved to Saturday where they had ended up having a day of rest before meeting the #1 and #2 teams. The Friday late games were pushed all the way back to Sunday morning and afternoon and every one of these games were one-run games - and two of them going into extra innings. Tennessee Wesleyan would creep by #5 Milligan, 5-4, in ten innings. The next game would have Reinhardt facing #6 Bryan. Game one ended up going to Bryan after the Eagles had a good lead and appeared to be on their way to winning the game and moving on. The final score of game one was 7-6 going in favor of the Lions. The Eagles were not out of it because it was a double-elimination tournament and this was the first loss for the Eagles this week. The Eagles would once again come up short in the second game losing 5-4 in ten innings and this removed them from the tournament. Bryan was able to win two games on Sunday to work their way into the Championship Game where they will face the Waiting Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan. This game will be played on Monday afternoon at 1 pm in Kingsport, TN.

Andrew Herbert would get the start in game one versus Bryan and did a pretty good job striking out 7 Lion batters in his six innings of work. He would allow 6 hits and only one walk in the six innings, but his trouble came in six-inning where he gave up three runs. This allowed Bryan to get back into the ballgame, but the Eagles still had a 5-4 lead. Jett Kern would come in to relieve Herbert in the seventh and he would do a good job allowing only one hit and zero runs in the inning. Kern would be relieved by Parker Miller in the eighth inning after striking out the first batter in the inning, things started to get out of control. The Lions were able to score three runs in the eighth which would give them a one-run lead.

The offense was able to do their jobs in the early innings of game one scoring five runs in the first four innings. They added one more in the eighth which should have been plenty to take the game and move on to the championship final, however, the bottom of the eighth inning happened and a game two was forced. Tucker Zdunich and Albert Mora both had home runs in the game creating the offense for the Eagles. Zdunich would end up with 4 RBIs in the game and Albert Mora had 2 RBIs.

Game two gave the Eagles one more chance to move on and face the anticipated matchup between the #1 and #2 teams. Although they lost the first game, the Eagles would still be favored to win and move on. Jordan Hampton would get the start in game two and would get in six innings before being pulled for Jet Kern. Hampton had a decent game pitching getting five strikeouts and only allowing one walk. He did give up nine hits in his innings but kept the scoring to just three runs which should have been enough with the Eagles scoring runs pretty good in the tournament. Kern would enter the game in the seventh inning and have a really solid set of innings. He pitched the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings not allowing a run. He stayed in for the tenth inning and was able to get the first batter out, but the next batter up was able to hit a home run breaking the 3-3 tie game and giving the game to Bryan.

The offense had trouble getting runs across the plate in this one as the pitching from Bryan did a pretty good job holding down the Eagles. The Eagles would get one run in the first inning and then two more in the seventh. The seventh was the most promising inning for the Eagles as they would have the bases loaded and one run was brought in from a walk. They had a sac fly to bring in one more run, but they could not capitalize on the bases-loaded situation to score more runs. Reinhardt would not be able to score any runs the rest of the way through and inevitably cost them the game. The final run by the Lions in the bottom of the tenth would give them the 4-3 win and a chance to play Tennessee Wesleyan in the finals.

The Eagles will head back to Waleska with a lot of questions to be answered and a waiting game on their next move. Their fate is in the hands of the NAIA selection committee and this information should come out early this week. The Eagles have had a good run on the last half of their season and moved back into the NAIA Top 25. They finished in the #2 position in the conference so one could think that this would be enough to get them into the NAIA National Tournament - but the Eagles and their fans will have to wait and see as everything unfolds this week. As soon as this is revealed, the information will be posted on ReinhardtEagles.com.

Below is the tournament wrap-up from AACSports.com with links to view the championship game for Monday afternoon.

TWU, Bryan Set to Meet for Baseball Championship

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The stage is set for the 2022 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Baseball Tournament championship game as Tennessee Wesleyan and Bryan will battle for the title for the second year in a row.

Tennessee Wesleyan advanced to the championship game with a 5-4 win over No. 5 seed Milligan, while Bryan collected two one-run victories over No. 2 seed Reinhardt to punch its ticket.

The title game is set for Monday at 1 p.m.

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

No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan 5, No. 5 Milligan 4 (10 innings)

Pushed to the absolute brink in an extra-inning affair, the top-seeded Bulldogs survived a valiant push from the Buffs when Jermayne Ward lifted a bases-loaded single to left field to send Wesleyan to the championship game. It was Ward's third hit of the day. Wesleyan, which trailed 4-0 at one point, tied the game in the seventh on an RBI double by Dan Sayre, who arguably made an even bigger play defensively in the sixth.

With a runner on second and Milligan up 4-3, Anthony Guzman blasted a ball to short, and while he reached on an infield single, Sayre made a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield and the runner at third. Kyle Bloor then ended the inning with a strikeout as he and Liam Doolan allowed just two hits over six-and-two-third shutout innings.

No. 6 Bryan 7, No. 2 Reinhardt 6

Bradley Prince tied the game with RBI single and an Eagle error brought the winning run home in the eighth inning, as Bryan staved off elimination by overcoming a 5-1 deficit. The Lions put the pressure on in the sixth inning after Daniel Dryden crushed a three-run homer to pull them within 5-4.

After the Eagles got a run back in the top of the eighth, Bryan loaded the bases before Prince brought home the tying run. After a Reinhardt relay throw sailed over the head of the third baseman, Devin Ogg came home to give the Lions the lead, and closer Anthony Tejada worked a 1-2-3 ninth to force a do-or-die rematch between the two teams.

No. 6 Bryan 4, No. 2 Reinhardt (10 innings)

Things got even wilder in the day's finale. But in a game that saw three batters thrown out at home, Darwin Gregg broke through the at times impenetrable fortress that was home plate. On the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the tenth inning, Gregg skied a solo home run just over the left-field wall, ending a tight game and sending the Lions into Monday's title game with a 4-3 win.

Gregg was one of four Bryan players to record two hits while the bullpen was dominant again. Cameron Harvey didn't allow an earned run in four-and-two thirds inning while Tejada earned the win by allowing just one hit and no runs in three-and-a-third.

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

Here is the updated tournament schedule:

Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 3
Game 1 - No. 7 Bluefield (29-16) def. No. 10 Columbia International (21-32), 14-3 (7 innings) (BOX) - Columbia International eliminated
Game 2 - No. 9 Montreat (32-24) def. No. 8 Truett McConnell (25-22), 5-1 (BOX) - Truett McConnell eliminated

Wednesday, May 4
Game 3 - No. 5 Milligan (35-19) def. No. 4 St. Andrews (37-16), 11-2 (BOX)
Game 4 - No. 6 Bryan (24-24) def. No. 3 Point (25-21), 12- 7 (BOX)
Game 5 - No. 2 Reinhardt (34-19) def. No. 7 Bluefield (29-17), 7-6 (BOX)
Game 6 - No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (48-5) def. No. 9 Montreat (32-25), 20-10 (BOX)

Thursday, May 5
Game 7 - No. 7 Bluefield (30-17) def. No. 3 Point (25-22), 12-7 (BOX) - Point eliminated
Game 8 - No. 9 Montreat (33-25) def. No. 4 St. Andrews (37-16), 16-12 (BOX) - St. Andrews eliminated
Game 9 - No. 2 Reinhardt (35-19) def. No. 6 Bryan (24-25), 9-4 (BOX)
Game 10 - No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (49-5) vs. No. 5 Milligan (35-20), 7 pm (BOX)

Saturday, May 7
Game 11 - No. 5 Milligan (36-20) def. No. 9 Montreat (33-26), 14-2 (BOX) - Montreat eliminated
Game 12 - No. 6 Bryan (25-25) def. No. 7 Bluefield (30-18), 4-3 (BOX) - Bluefield eliminated

Sunday, May 8
Game 13 - No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (50-5) def. No. 5 Milligan (36-21), 5-4 (10 innings) (BOX) - Milligan eliminated
Game 14 - No. 6 Bryan (26-25) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (35-19) 7-6 (BOX)
Game 15 - No. 6 Bryan (27-25) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (35-21), 4-3 (10 innings) (BOX) - Reinhardt eliminated

Monday, May 9
Game 16 - CHAMPIONSHIP GAME No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan (50-5) vs. No. 6 Bryan (27-25), 1 pm

https://www.aacsports.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/releases/20220508u7rzj1