The #3 Seed East Central College Falcons (21-25) knocked off the #2 Seed Western Oklahoma College Pioneers (37-20) in the loser’s bracket of the NJCAA Baseball DII Plains District Tournament in Enid, Oklahoma by a score of 6-5.
The Falcons were out hit in the game 8 to 7, but made their hits count for more runs taking the early lead on a two-run homer by Seth Shannon in the top of the 1st inning. ECC led 4-1 lead after the top of the second inning on some manufactured runs with a walk to Austin McKim, a single by Will Sisk and few errors by the Western Oklahoma Pioneers.
Alfred Ulloa pitched well for the Falcons going five innings, striking out five batters and only giving up two earned runs.
After giving up a solo home run in the fourth inning, the Falcons put together another run of their own as Mario Columbo drove in Luciano Terilli to make the score 5-2.
In the top of the ninth, Ethan Lindemann drew a walk turning into what became the game winning run. Andy Hueste pinch ran for Lindemann and Tyson Dent doubled to right, driving in Hueste to make the score 6-2.
ECC had Cristian Gonzalez pitching well through three innings, but he got into a jam in the bottom of the ninth with the score 6-4. The Pioneers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 6-5. Shane Kearbey faced three batters in the bottom of the ninth and got the eventual save on a ground ball to end the game.
ECC lives on in the double elimination tournament to face the loser of Rich Mountain and Murray State in the loser’s bracket at 1PM on Saturday, May 14 at David Allan Ball Park in Enid, OK.
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