Bellarmine starting pitcher Eddie Mathis had Drury hitters off balance all morning but the Panthers scored a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to win 3-2 in the opening round of the NCAA-II Midwest Regional tournament in Midland, Michigan on Thursday.
The win raises Drury’s record to 37-18 and sends them to a winners’ bracket game on Friday at 4 p.m. (Central) against the winner the game between host Northwood (Mich.) and eighth seeded Kentucky Wesleyan. Bellarmine, the fifth seed in the tournament, dropped to 34-20.
The game was scoreless until the top of the seventh when the Knights scored two runs on a double by Zac Wiley.
Mathis (9-4) held Drury to two hits through seven innings but the Panthers got on the board in the bottom of the eighth when Ethan Owens singled and was driven home on a pinch-hit, RBI double by Devan O’Bryan.
The Panthers, seeded fourth in the region, tied the game on one swing when Nic Perkins started the bottom of the ninth with a shot over the left field fence for his eighth home run of the season. K.K. Daniel followed with a double that chased Mathis from the game and set up the winning run.
Against reliever Will Birch, Ryan Kayhill put down a bunt on the left side of the infield that resulted in a wide throw from Knights third baseman Josh Finerty and allowed pinch runner Patrick Hoerning to score the game-winning run.
Alex Austin (5-2) got the win for Drury in relief going 2.2 innings and allowed no hits, no runs and no walks with two strikeouts. Starter Ryan Colombo got a no-decision for the Panthers after going 6.1 innings and allowed nine hits and two runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.
“Alex came in at a big spot in the game and was able to leave the game where it was at 2-0,” said Drury head coach Scott Nasby. “Our pitching kept the game where we wanted it to be and then our offense finally got going in the last two innings. We got out of situations when they had runners in scoring position as Austin and Colombo were tough on the mound, got some key punch-outs and made key pitches when they needed to.”
Bellarmine had nine hits but finished the day stranding 11 runners.
Thursday’s win was Drury’s third victory this season when they have trailed going into the ninth inning and improved them to 12-5 in one-run games. Overall, it was Drury’s eleventh win in their last 14 games.
Bellarmine will play in an elimination game on Friday at 10 a.m. (Central) against the loser of the Northwood vs. Kentucky Wesleyan game.
The NCAA-II Midwest Regional continues through Monday, May 22 in Midland, Michland and is hosted by the to seed, Northwood University.
