Cougars Rally to Shock Top-Seeded Taylor 17-15


	Cougar Baseball Recap Cougars Rally to Shock Top-Seeded Taylor 17-15 written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Boxscore UPLAND, Ind. (5-3-2012) - In one of the wildest games in the storied history of the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball program, the No. 3 seeded Cougars rallied from a 13-5 deficit with an 11-run sixth inning and held on to shock No. 1 seed and host Taylor University 17-15 in the winner's bracket championship game of the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon. MVNU (32-18) got off to a good start in the bottom of the first inning when sophomore third baseman Jeff Stone *(left)* gave the Cougars an early 2-0 lead with a two-run double to right center. However, the lead was short-lived because in the top of the third inning after the first two batters for NAIA No. 22 Taylor (36-17) were retired easily an error opened the door for five unearned runs to cross the plate as the Trojans took a 5-2 lead. MVNU got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third inning to pull within 5-3 on freshman catcher Clint Spencer's RBI infield single, but Taylor answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 6-3. The Cougars closed the gap to 6-5 on a two-run homer by Stone with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The blast was Stone's second in as many playoff games and third of the season. However, the Trojans once again put some distance between themselves and MVNU as they scored four more runs after the first two batters were retired in the top of the fifth inning to take a 10-5 advantage. The lead grew to 13-5 in the top of the sixth inning when Taylor tallied three more runs with two of them coming with two outs as things begin to look bleak for the Cougars' chances. Then, everything changed in the bottom of the sixth inning as MVNU had its biggest postseason inning scoring 13 times in the fourth inning of a 23-10 win over MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University on May 2, 1996 in the National Christian College Athletic Association National Tournament. On Thursday, the Cougars sent 14 batters to the plate and when the dust had settled MVNU had pushed across 11 runs in the inning to take a 16-13 lead on just seven hits as the Cougars took advantage of three errors by the Trojans. Freshman outfielder Jake Dickerson tied a school record by blasting a pair of two-run homers in the frame as he joined former MVNU catcher J.K. Waers as the only players in program history to hit two home runs in the same inning as Waers accomplished the feat in the second game of a doubleheader at Tiffin University on April 10, 1997. Senior designated hitter Jeff Estep had a three-run double in the inning, Stone added another two-run double, and sophomore outfielder Robert Kane blasted a two-run homer - his second of the season. The host Trojans made things interesting in the top of the seventh inning as they pulled within 16-15 by taking advantage of four wild pitches and three walks to close the gap as Taylor scored both runs with two outs. The Cougars got a big insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when sophomore first baseman Seth Eller hit a solo homer to left center to give MVNU a little breathing room at 17-15. The home run was Eller's second of the season. That would prove to be all the scoring in the game as senior right-hander Jerrob Decker closed the door over the final two innings for the Cougars including retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth inning to nail down the victory. Sophomore right-hander Mike Kochheiser started and lasted 5.2 innings for MVNU as he gave up 14 hits, two walks, and 12 runs (seven earned) with four strikeouts. Senior right-hander Darren Athey (5-1) benefited from the 11-run sixth inning as he picked up the victory. He gave up three hits, four walks, and three runs over 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Decker *(right)* registered the first save of his career as he tossed two scoreless innings and allowed just one hit with two strikeouts. Taylor Luna started and gave up 12 hits and seven runs over five-plus innings for Taylor as he struck out three batters. Matt Chema allowed two hits and two runs without retiring a batter, and Derek Kinzer (5-2) took the loss in relief as he surrendered seven hits and eight runs (only one earned) in just 2.1 innings with one strikeout. Craig Martin recorded the final two outs and struck out one batter. "Well, this game had a little bit of everything and a lot of offense," said MVNU coach Keith Veale. "We got on top in the first inning, but with the wind blowing out again today you knew things were just getting started. We made a critical two-out error in the third inning and in no time found ourselves down 5-2. (Taylor) has such a potent offense you just cannot give them extra outs and expect to survive." "We got back to within one run with Jeff's home run in the fourth, but again you knew things were far from over," Veale continued. "Mike got two quick outs in the fifth, but he couldn't close out the inning. I went to the mound and just told him to keep competing. Every inning and every out matters. When the dust finally settled after the top of the sixth, we were in a deep hole at 13-5. At that point, we knew we had four more at bats and we just needed to chip away and see if we could get back in it. I quit giving signs because we had to string some at bats together." "The guys really locked in and put together quite an inning," said Veale. "It was our single biggest inning of the year. It felt great that we had the huge inning and had the lead, but honestly I didn't know if we could keep them in check the rest of the way. Darren got us a couple more outs, and Jerrob came in and threw great to finish out the last two innings. He was throwing hard and coming right at their hitters. In a game that had 32 runs on the board, it was probably his final two innings on that mound that got the win. What a great win!" Offensively, the Cougars combined for 21 hits and 17 runs which were both the highest postseason single-game totals since a 21-9 win ironically over Taylor in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round on May 19, 2010 when MVNU pounded out 22 hits. Stone finished 4-for-6 with six RBI and three runs scored as he had a single, two doubles, and a home run. Dickerson also went 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored as he had a single, a double, and two home runs. Eller also went 4-for-6 and tied a school record by scoring five times, while Estep, Kane, Spencer, and freshman outfielder Andrew Fila contributed two hits apiece. Kinzer paced Taylor with four hits as he hit for the cycle in the game. Ian Nielsen, Rhett Goodmiller, and Dominic Spadafora added three hits each, and Daimon Buck registered two hits and three RBI. Both teams stranded 10 base runners in the game. In Thursday's other games, No. 5 seed Huntington (Ind.) University, the winner of the last two MCC Tournaments, began the day with a 7-6 victory over the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in 11 innings to advance in the loser's bracket. Then, following MVNU's victory over Taylor, No. 4 seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University eliminated Huntington 10-7. Friday's action will get under way with a noon loser's bracket contest between Taylor and Spring Arbor. The winner of that game will face MVNU at 3 p.m. in the first championship game. The Cougars are now just one win away from claiming the MCC Tournament title and an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. If Taylor advances past Spring Arbor, MVNU would be assured of that berth as Taylor is the regular-season MCC champion and has already claimed an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.

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