Union falls in first game of conference series against No. 17 Tennessee Wesleyan

Athens, Tenn. - On Thursday, the Union Commonwealth University baseball team played game one of a three-game conference series at No. 17 Tennessee Wesleyan.

Colton Stegman led things off with a solo home run to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 advantage in the opening inning. Tennessee Wesleyan responded by notching a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to level the score at 1-1.

Tennessee Wesleyan led 2-1 after three innings. In the top of the fourth with one out, Mason Kelley recorded a double. Nathan McCabe followed up with a single that advanced Kelley to third base.

Sammy Serrano delivered an RBI single on the next at bat to knot the score once again. The score was tied 2-2 after four innings. Tennessee Wesleyan would go on to score three runs in each of the following three innings to lead 11-2 at the end of the seventh inning.

On the first at bat in the top of the ninth inning, Kelley recorded a single up the middle. Later in the side, Kelley scored off Seth Keener's fielder's choice RBI. Union fell short 11-3 in nine innings.

Ethan Warren pitched 5.2 innings of today's game, while recording two strikeouts. Dalton Kottmer pitched a 0.2 innings, while Jose Perez pitched 1.2 innings. Perez threw two strikeouts and allowed zero hits.

Offensively, Kelley went two-for-four with two runs scored. Stegman, McCabe, and Serrano each recorded one hit.

The Bulldogs are now 18-25 (11-17 AAC) this season, while No. 17 Tennessee Wesleyan  is 31-15 (21-7 AAC). Up next for Union is the final two games of this conference series. The first matchup is slated for Friday, April 26, at 1:00 p.m.