Baseball drops decision to Bethany in first round of KCAC Tournament
By KCAC Sports Information Directors
Bethany 5, Sterling 4
Bethany won the opening game of the 2008 KCAC conference tournament 5-4 over Sterling . Bethany took an early 4-1 lead but allowed Sterling to score three in the 8th inning to tie it up. Justin Long then came up huge by singling in Hop Sullivan in the bottom of ninth to win the game.
Both teams hit the ball well all day, with Bethany getting fourteen hits while Sterling pounded out ten, but the pitchers didn't allow many runners to score and a lot of players were left stranded on the bases.
Justin Long pitched 7.1 innings for Bethany , giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out eight and walking four. Dustin Vaughn then came in and pitched the remaining 1.2 innings and gave up no runs on one hit to pick up the win for the Swedes.
Brett Ormiston went the distance for Sterling , pitching 8.2 innings and giving up five runs on fourteen hits while striking out one and walking one.
Hop Sullivan and Joel Sundquist led the way for Bethany with three hits, while Holbert Harold and Justin Long each added two.
Matt Elliot and Murri Lazaroff-Babin each had two hits apiece for Sterling .
Sterling will face Ottawa University on Friday in the elimination game at 11:00 am at Dean Evans Stadium. Ottawa lost to Saint Mary 4-5 in 10 innings in the other game yesterday. The winner will play again at 7:00 PM against the loser of Saint Mary/Bethany.