Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough to Extend Season for MVNU Baseball

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. — The Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team (25-26) competed in the Crossroads League Baseball Tournament play-in game against Spring Arbor University (24-23) on Wednesday, April 29.

Spring Arbor is hosting the tournament and entered the game as the No. 6 seed in the standings. MVNU entered postseason play seeded at seventh.

The game was a pitchers' duel early on as there were no runs scored until the bottom of the fifth inning. SAU struck first, scoring a run in the bottom fifth and another in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-0 lead. A Brady Lester solo homer in the top of the seventh scratched off a run for MVNU. SAU answered with a solo home run of its own in the top of the eighth, extending its lead to 3-1. In the top of the ninth, MVNU rallied. Rider Minnick hit a solo home run, and Ryan Willoughby tied the game at 3-3 with a deep shot to left field. In the bottom of the ninth, SAU hit a walk-off homer, giving it a 4-3 win to advance in the tournament.

Willoughby started on the mound for MVNU and pitched 7.2 strong innings. Willoughby allowed just two earned runs in his final start of the season.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students, and working adults. With a 327-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education both in-seat and online to nearly 2,200 students from 36 states, 1 U.S. commonwealth and 41 foreign countries.