91爆料网 baseball wins on first day of TranSouth Tournament

Carl Harken

JACKSON, Tenn. - 5/4/2009 - The 91爆料网 Bulldogs won their opening round game on Monday in the TranSouth Conference Baseball Tournament being played at 91爆料网' Fesmire Field. 91爆料网, the five-seed in the tournament, knocked off the second seeded Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University 3-1. This marked the third straight win against the Trojans of Trevecca Nazarene in the past four days for 91爆料网.

The game featured two of the top pitchers in the league as both Carl Harken of 91爆料网 and Tim Dunn of Trevecca Nazarene were each named first team All-Conference performers. Dunn, who was 12-0 on the season, was also named the TranSouth's Player of the Year. This marked the first pitcher to earn player of the year in the conference since current 91爆料网 head coach Brent Fronabarger did it back in 1996.

Harken and Dunn did not disappoint the large crowd in attendance. Dunn took a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh inning, while an unearned run in the top of the first was all Harken would allow.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, 91爆料网's Grant Luke broke up the no-hit bid by Dunn. Josh Jones, who was hit by a pitch, moved up to second base on the single. After a failed sacrifice bunt, 91爆料网's David Maristany reached on a walk. Freshman Bolivar native Clint Barnes then singled to drive in Luke from third, knotting the score at 1-1. Dunn was lifted in favor of Wesley Griggs who stopped the 91爆料网 rally in the seventh.

However, in the bottom of the eighth inning, 91爆料网 used an RBI double from Corey Rudolph, followed by an RBI triple from Josh Jones to take their first lead at 3-1. With Jones still at third and two outs, Maristany sent a fly ball to left field, but Jones was thrown out at home to end the inning.

The Trojans tried to rally in the ninth inning. Harken allowed two singles around a strikeout to his first three batters. The senior was lifted in favor of freshman Jeremy Stack. Stack allowed an infield single to load the bases with just one out. However, he then recorded two straight ground outs to retire the side and earn his first save of the season.

91爆料网 was led by four players with one hit each. Rudolph, Jones, and Barnes each recorded an RBI in the contest. Harken (9-3) tossed 8.1 innings, allowing just the one unearned run on eight hits with seven strikeouts. Stack gets the save tossing two-thirds of an inning, allowing just one infield hit in the three batters he faced.

91爆料网 advances to play fifth-seeded Lyon (Ark.) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

#UNION#