HICKORY, NC -- UVA Wise opened South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament play with a gut-wrenching loss 5-4 to the number seventeen nationally ranked Bears of Lenior-Rhyne.
Jake Smith's would-be home run was the story of a game that officially ended after a lengthy discussion by the umpire crew, ultimately deciding that the would-be game-tying home run did not go over the fence and instead hit the fence, before Smith was thrown out at the plate as the potential tying run.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: Lenoir-Rhyne 5, UVA Wise 4
Records: UVA Wise (26-23); Lenoir-Rhyne (41-10)
Location: Hickory, NC | Durham Field
HOW IT HAPPENED
UVA Wise struck first in the second inning, as
Jaden Ruehling reached base via a hit-by-pitch, before
Morgan Miller drove him in with a triple just outside the reach of Lenoir-Rhyne center fielder Mac Wainwright. Miller came in to score on an RBI ground out off the bat of
Jake Weaver, to give the Cavs the early 2-0 advantage.
Lenoir-Rhyne answered in the bottom of the second inning, loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch and two singles, bringing SAC Player of the Year Mac Wainwright to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Wainwright delivered with a grand slam to straight away center field, giving the Bears a 4-2 lead.
UVA Wise starting pitcher
Spencer Powell would settle in after the home run, as he allowed just more two hits through his 6.2 innings of work. Powell retired 10 straight Bear hitters after the home run, and allowed just one unearned run the rest of his outing.
In the fifth inning, UVA Wise cut the lead to 4-3 after Josh Morgan singled with two outs and stole second base, putting him in position to score on a
Jake Smith RBI-single to right field.Â
The Bears extended the lead to 5-3 on a potential inning ending double-play, ruled to be a throwing error, which allowed a run to score. UVA Wise responded by loading the bases in the eighth inning, but the Cavs were unable to push a run across.
In the ninth inning, with the Cavs trailing 5-3,
Jacob Boyle led off with a single to centerfield. After Josh Morgan lined out to first base, and
Jaden Ruehling flew out to right field the Cavs found themselves down to their final out.
Jake Smith drove a ball to left centerfield that sounded as though it banged off the recessed scoreboard before bouncing back in to the field. As Smith circled the bases, Lenoir-Rhyne center fielder Mac Wainwright walked over to the ball, and lobbed it back towards the infield as the Cavalier team and fans celebrated the tie game. However, Lenoir-Rhyne shortstop Andrew Stillinger picked up the ball, firing it to catcher Cole Stanford, who tagged Smith just before he crossed the plate. The umpire crew initially ruled that Smith was out at home on the non-home run. After a discussion of nearly 30 minutes, the umpire crew decided that the ruling on the field would stand and the game was over. Smith was credited with an RBI triple, and was out at home for the 5-4 final score.
UP NEXT
With the loss, the Cavs move on to an elimination game against Carson-Newman, Saturday at 3:00 PM.
Â
