Decker (7-6) (left) tossed the first shutout of his career and the 18th complete game as he limited the Yellow Jackets (30-27) to just two hits over seven innings as he struck out five batters and did not issue a walk as he cruised through seven innings in fine fashion.

MVNU (34-19) manufactured a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead when junior outfielder Kodi Veale reached on a one-out single, went to third base on a single to rightfield by senior designated hitter Josh Estep, and came around to score on a sacrifice fly to rightfield by freshman shortstop Clint Yoder.

Then, in the top of the third inning, the Cougars took advantage of four errors by Cedarville to plate four unearned runs and take a commanding 5-0 lead. Junior third baseman Matt Parks plated a run with a sacrifice bunt, sophomore outfielder Steve Williams doubled in a run, and sophomore catcher Ricardo Rodriguez added an RBI-single in the frame.

The Yellow Jackets’ two hits came as a result of a one-out double by Juan Martinez in the bottom of the third inning before he was caught stealing trying to advance on a ball in the dirt to end the inning and a one-out single by Brandon Young in the bottom of the fifth inning. The only other baserunner was Brady Workman, who was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but a double play ended that threat.

Meanwhile, MVNU compiled nine hits and stranded nine baserunners in the game. Veale and junior first baseman Travis McInerney both went 2-for-4 to pace the offensive attack with Veale scoring twice.

Clint Price (6-4), who had beaten the Cougars during the regular season, took the loss for Cedarville as he gave up nine hits, two walks, and five runs over seven innings with two strikeouts. He committed three of the Yellow Jackets four errors in the fateful third inning that contributed to four of the five runs being unearned.

MVNU will now advance to face No. 2 seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University in the winner’s bracket semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Spring Arbor cruised past No. 10 seed Colorado Christian University 9-1 to advance.

The other winner’s bracket semifinal will feature No. 1 seed Malone University versus No. 4 seed Bluefield (Va.) College at 4:15 p.m. Malone blanked No. 6 seed Geneva (Pa.) College 12-0, while Bluefield had a 4-3 walk-off win over No. 5 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University.

Thursday’s action will get under way at 10:00 a.m. with a pair of loser’s bracket games as Cedarville will take on No. 7 seed Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Olivet Nazarene will square off with No. 9 seed Palm Beach Atlantic (Fla.) University. Then, Geneva will face the Cedarville-Oklahoma Wesleyan winner at 1:00 p.m., while Colorado Christian awaits the Olivet Nazarene-Palm Beach Atlantic winner at 1:00 p.m. The 10-team double elimination event will be down to six teams after Thursday’s action.

MVNU’s game against Spring Arbor on Thursday will hopefully be carried live online at http://media.mvnu.edu:8060/wnzrsports.m3u and fans can also follow along with the action on the tournament website at http://www.prascopark.com/default.asp?contentid=36.