MVNU (39-21), the No. 2 seed in the 10-team double elimination tournament, broke open a scoreless game in the top of the second inning with six runs. Junior second baseman Josh Estep led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield. Senior designated hitter Marc Hadley (left) followed with a long two-run homer well over the rightfield fence to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. It was Hadley’s sixth home run of the season.

MVNU did not settle for just the two runs, though, as sophomore catcher Travis McInerney followed with a single and his courtesy runner freshman Michael Hendren moved to second on a passed ball prior to a walk to sophomore first baseman Matt Parks. Two outs later, senior shortstop Ross Yoder drew a walk to load the bases. Then, senior outfielder Garret Shivley was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Senior third baseman Richey Burgos followed with a two-run single up the middle, and Estep closed out the inning with his second hit of the frame - an RBI infield single to third as the Cougars led 6-0.

The Wildcats (32-24), who handed MVNU its only loss in five games in the tournament with a 7-3 setback on Friday, chipped away at the six-run deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to close the gap to 6-2. Back-to-back singles by Kory Hollensteiner and Ben Zachary started the inning. One out later, Hollensteiner and Zachary pulled off a double steal and then Nicholas Millspaugh was hit by a pitch to load the bases as Indiana Wesleyan appeared on its way to a big inning.

However, the Cougars recorded a big second out in the inning as senior left-hander Levi Curry (right) registered his team-leading ninth pickoff of the season as he caught Millspaugh straying too far off the bag at first. Ryan Moore plated two runs with a single up the middle, but following a single by Brandon Beachy to put runners at first and third, Curry struck out Derek Freds to get out of the inning with a 6-2 lead.

MVNU went right back to work to get the two runs back in the top of the fourth inning as Yoder singled up the middle to start the inning. One out later, he stole second prior to Burgos drawing his school-record 39th walk of the season. Yoder and Burgos then pulled off a double steal to put runners at second and third. For Yoder, it was his team-leading 13th stolen base of the year - the most since Steve Waers stole 15 bases in 2001.

The two stolen bases set the stage for the Cougars to score two runs as Estep plated Yoder on a fielder’s choice with Burgos coming around to score on the play as well as the throw to the plate to try to get Yoder sailed past the catcher for an error as MVNU built its lead back to 8-2.

The score remained 8-2 until the bottom of the seventh inning as the Wildcats refused to go down without a fight. With one out, Zachary doubled down the rightfield line and advanced to third on an error by freshman outfielder Steve Williams on the play. After a walk to Shay Harden, Zachary scored on a ground out to third base by Millspaugh as the Cougars were content to trade the run for the second out with Harden moving to second. Then, MVNU ended the game on Moore’s ground ball to Yoder deep in the hole at shortstop with Yoder making a strong throw to first to nip Moore by a step and give the Cougars the 8-3 victory and the national title as the MVNU dugout emptied and the celebration began.

For the second time in the tournament, Curry (10-3) went the distance on the mound to pick up the victory as he scattered nine hits, two walks, and three runs (two earned) over seven innings while matching his career high with 10 strikeouts. He finished the tournament by going 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings as he was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Jake Scholfield (0-2), who entered the game with just eight previous appearances all in relief on the year and an 8.68 ERA, started and took the loss for Indiana Wesleyan as he surrendered three hits, two walks, and five runs over just 1.2 innings with two strikeouts. Joshua Worrell allowed three hits, two walks, and three runs (two earned) in 2.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts, while Tim Pauley, who retired all five Cougars he faced in Friday’s win over MVNU, tossed 2.2 scoreless innings as he gave up just two hits with three strikeouts.

Estep (left), who batted .611 for the tournament (11-for-18) and tossed a six-hit shutout against Malone College in Friday’s winner’s bracket championship game to put MVNU in Saturday’s title game, went 3-for-4 with two RBI as he was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In addition to Curry, he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Yoder and Burgos who both had one hit in the game with Burgos driving in two runs.

Zachary paced the Wildcats’ offensive attack by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Moore was 2-for-4 with two RBI to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team along with Millspaugh and Brandon Moore.

The Cougars increased their total of NCCAA national championship to six as they now have twice as many titles as any other program having won previously in 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999. Spring Arbor (Mich.) University and Bethel (Ind.) College both have three titles apiece to their credit.

The game, which equaled the school record of 60 games played in 2004, was the final contest for seven MVNU seniors as Burgos, Yoder, Curry, Shivley, Hadley, Dave Yost, and Jason Barber each wrapped up their careers in fine fashion with the national title.