LEWISTON, Idaho -- Alec ACkerman hit a two-run homer but that was all the offense the Bellevue University baseball team could muster in support of a complete game effort by Blake Crippen as the Bruins were eliminated from the 2022 Avista NAIA World Series following a 3-2 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan on Monday.
Bellevue finishes the 2022 season with an overall record of 49-13.
Tennessee Wesleyan improves to 55-7 on the season and will play in another elimination game tomorrow. Their opponent and game time will be decided by the Games Committee.
Recap: TWU 3, BU 2
TWU opened the scoring in the top of the first. Braxton Turner staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead with a two-out, RBI-single to center. The Bulldogs nearly added another but Conner Barnett recorded his 11th outfield assist of the season, gunning down Parker Stinnett at home on Chad Picton's base hit.
Bellevue had single base hits in each inning from the third through the fifth with their best scoring chance coming in the third. Zach Diehl and Kanta Kobayashi led off the third with a base hit and being hit by a pitch. A botched pickoff attempt put both runners in scoring position but Bellevue was unable to cash in.
The score remained 1-0 until the seventh as both pitchers settled in and neutralized potential threats.
Carson Ford doubled the advantage to 2-0 with a sac fly to plate pinch-runner Kyle Lavender in the seventh.
One inning later, Turner homered to the right of the batter's eye in center for a 3-0 advantage.
With the top of the order due up in the home half of the eighth, Kanta Kobayashi wore a pitch to put the leadoff runner aboard. Two batters later, Alec Ackerman launched his 19th home run to left to make it a one-run game. K_ Bloor came on in relief for TWU and got a pair of groundouts to end the inning.
Crippen pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth to keep the score 3-2 and give the Bruin offense one final chance.
Liam Doolan came on to close for the Bulldogs. He got a pair of strikeouts to open the ninth before inducing a ground ball to end the game as he picked up his 10th save.
Crippen (11-4) went the distance on the hill for Bellevue, allowing 11 hits but limited TWU to just three runs – two earned – as he struck out four and did not issue a walk.
Robert Gonzalez (10-3) worked 7.1 innings for the victory. He allowed just the two runs on four hits and struck out six against one walk.
