KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team (39-18) erased a 10-run deficit and scored 11 unanswered runs to complete a comeback over the stunned the Madonna University Crusaders (28-15) in the second day of the NAIA National Tournament on Tuesday, May 17.
MVNU erased a 10-run deficit and scored 11 unanswered to complete the comeback over the Crusaders in 10 innings. Trailing 11-1 after four innings, the Cougars began to show signs of life in the top of the fifth. MVNU put four runs on the board, beginning the comeback. Casey Kalman hit a two-run double that scored Toby Walker and Andrew Miller, Devin Pearl hit an RBI single that drove home Jake Glover, and Kalman trotted home from third after a throwing error to first. After picking up another run in the seventh, the Cougars used some postseason magic in the ninth to tie the game. The five-run inning began with a Zackary Hoop sacrifice fly that scored Pearl. With two outs now on the board and the bases loaded, Andrew Miller got hit by a pitch, bringing in a run. Trailing by just three now, Glover cleared the bases with a three-run double that scored Miller, Walker, and Blaine Keener. Cruz McFadden shut down the Crusader lineup in the bottom of the inning, sending the game into extras.
MVNU capped off the comeback with a Keener RBI double that scored Hogan Heck. With a 12-11 lead in the bottom of the 10th, MVNU relied on the top closer in the NAIA to finish the ballgame. McFadden did just that, securing the victory for MVNU. McFadden pitched three innings and picked up the win on the mound. He allowed just one hit and had three strikeouts.
