In the first game of the day, third-seeded Ohio Dominican University (40-12) got a dominating pitching performance from Jonathan Kountis as the Panthers blanked second-seeded Geneva (Pa.) College (29-20) 7-0 to hand the Golden Tornadoes their first loss of the double elimination event.

Kountis (9-2) was outstanding on the mound for Ohio Dominican as he allowed just three hits while striking out 13 batters and issuing just one walk in going all nine innings. He struck out the side in the first, third, and fourth innings and at one point struck out seven straight hitters.

Meanwhile, Vince Doster and K.C. Warden led the offensive attack for the 15th-ranked Panthers as they each went 3-for-4 with Warden hitting a single, double, and home run. Nick Assmann and Josh Brown also added two hits apiece.

Derek Sumner (5-4) was the losing pitcher for Geneva as he gave up nine hits, three walks, and seven runs over five innings with four strikeouts. Nick Phillips tossed three scoreless innings of relief to close out the game for the Golden Tornadoes who also turned three double plays in the game.  GAME SIX BOXSCORE

The second game of the day was a slugfest that went back and forth and featured a combined 20 runs, 36 hits, and five errors with sixth-seeded Walsh University (25-28) continuing their surprising run through the tournament with an 11-9 come-from-behind win over Ohio Dominican.

After the Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Panthers answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and another run in the bottom of the second inning to build a 4-1 advantage.

However, Walsh, which had dropped both of its games to Ohio Dominican during the regular season, scored two runs in the top of the third inning and added a single run in the top of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to go in front 7-4.

The Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull within 7-6, but the Cavaliers answered with two runs of their own in the top of the eighth inning to extend the lead to 9-6.

Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ohio Dominican rallied with three runs to knot the score at 9-9 as the game moved to the ninth inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, Mike Suliks lined a one-out triple down the rightfield line to give Walsh a 10-9 lead. Then, Mark Kelly plated Suliks with a sacrifice fly to right center that the Panthers’ Vince Doster made an unbelievable diving catch on as the Cavaliers took an 11-9 advantage to the bottom of the ninth inning.

Ohio Dominican threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning as Josh Brown and Pete Wheeler each singled sandwiched around a line out by KC Warden. However, pinch hitter Jose Avila grounded into a double play to end the game as Walsh moved to the championship game.

Chad Campbell led the Cavaliers by going 5-for-6 at the plate, while Kelly and Rollin Matsui each had three hits. Jason Pettigrew and Tim Hromada also added two hits apiece to the 20-hit attack for Walsh.

Brown and Matt Koblens each had three hits for the Panthers with Koblens driving in four runs. Doster, Assmann, Phil Franks, Pete Wheeler, and Thomas Sullivan also registered two hits apiece.

Alan Frame (2-6) picked up the victory for Walsh in relief as he tossed the final 1.1 innings and allowed just two hits. Mike Dougherty started and worked 6.2 innings as he scattered 10 hits, one walk, and six runs over 6.2 innings. Andrew Tighe also worked one inning and gave up four hits, one walk, and three runs.

Chris Smith started and worked five innings for Ohio Dominican as he allowed nine hits, one walk, and five runs with five strikeouts. Carter Garnon and Ryan Vaughn each worked an inning of relief and gave up a run apiece, and Ryan Robowski (3-1) took the loss as he allowed six hits and four runs over the final two innings with one strikeout.  GAME SEVEN BOXSCORE

The final game of the day featured a loser’s bracket game between Geneva and top-seeded MVNU (36-13). The Cougars rallied from an early deficit to post a 4-3 victory and earn MVNU head coach Keith Veale his 600th win in his 18th season at the helm of the Cougars. Veale is now 600-286.

Things did not start well for the Cougars as Geneva’s first four batters each had a hit to give the Golden Tornadoes an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after MVNU had struck out in order in the top of the inning.

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fifth inning when the Cougars batted around and registered six hits on the way to scoring four runs to take a 4-2 lead.

A double by Matt Colella in the bottom of the seventh inning trimmed the lead to 4-3. However, that would prove to be as close as Geneva would get as MVNU stayed alive in the double elimination event.

Senior right-hander Ryan Decker (7-2) bounced back from the shaky start to scatter 11 hits over nine innings while striking out a career-high nine batters and issuing no walks. It was the longest outing of Decker’s career.

Colella (5-5) took the loss for the Golden Tornadoes despite pitching well himself as he allowed just nine hits over nine innings while registering 10 strikeouts with no walks.

Offensively, junior second baseman Ross Yoder, sophomore shortstop Josh Estep, and freshman outfielder Kodi Veale each had two hits to pace the Cougars. Meanwhile, Colella went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles to lead Geneva, and Rob Arata and Andy Hiskey finished with two hits apiece as the Golden Tornadoes were eliminated.  GAME EIGHT BOXSCORE

MVNU and Ohio Dominican will now square off in the loser’s bracket championship game at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. The winner of that game will then take on Walsh at 1:00 p.m. in the first championship game. If Walsh were to lose that game, then there would be a second championship game on Friday. The winner of the NAIA Region IX Tournament will advance to host the Region X winner in the best-of-three East Coast Super Regional next week.