Lions claim vengeance, berth to national tournament with trip to MSC final

May 6, 2023

by Dustin Semore, FHU Sports Information Director

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — With the backs to the wall, the (RV) Freed-Hardeman University Lion rattled off back-to-back wins Saturday afternoon. After advancing to the elimination final with a win over Georgetown (Ky.) College, the Lions punched their tickets to the Mid-South Conference Tournament Final with a 7-5 win over No. 23 Cumberland (Tenn.) University, avenging yesterday's loss to the Phoenix.

Setting the tone early, the No. 3 seed FHU Lions (37-18) watched Will McCall knock a two-out double down the right field line, before scoring thanks to Zach Sanders' RBI single up the middle to put the Lions on top 1-0.

No. 2 seed Cumberland (35-13-1) answered by a leadoff single being chased by back-to-back singles to knot the game 1-1. The tie did not last long when the Lions took advantage of a pair of fielding gaffes from the Phoenix with Sean Rooney leading off on base thanks to an error. After Mason Libla walked, a double play was remedied by Rooney scoring FHU's second run. Libla's courtesy runner, Caleb Molo, would tap home after another CU error allowed the inning to continue, giving the Lions a 3-1 advantage.

The Phoenix would answer with the bat, plating one run in the third inning before reclaiming the lead with a two-run fourth inning to set the score at 4-3 in favor of Cumberland.

To lead off the bottom of the fifth, William Kelley's two-bagger paid off when Adam Smithson's groundout drove in the tying run before a scoreless sixth inning kept everybody on edge with the 4-4 tie. 

FHU would break that tie with unconventional means in the bottom of the seventh inning. A hit batsman and a pair of walks loaded up the bases without an out being recorded. The Phoenix hoped to trade a run for a double play; however, CU's fourth error allowed the go-ahead run to cross without losing an out. Sanders would lift a fly ball that was nervously shallow, but the speed of Christian Presley scored to chalk it up as a sacrifice fly. A passed ball allowed Smithson to cross to give the Lions a 7-4 advantage.

A two-out triple from the Phoenix turned into a run, but it was not enough as the door shut to allow the FHU Lions to clinch their fifth straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

Houston High got the nod to start, throwing four innings where he struck out four before he gave way to Luis Torres-Lopez (5-4) who allowed one run in five innings while punching out five.

The Lions spread the offense around, with William Kelley and Mason Libla having the only multi-hit game with both tallying two hits. Zach Sanders drove in a team-high two runs while going 1-3.

Up Next

For the third consecutive season, the Mid-South Conference Tournament crown will come down to the Lions and the No. 7 University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots. The Lions will need to win the first game at 12:00 p.m. to force the "if necessary" winner-take-all game at 3:30 p.m.

The University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Patriots are the conference's regular season champions, making them the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The MSC provides two automatic bids to the national tournament: one to the regular season champion and one to the tournament champion. If the tournament champion is the same as the regular season champion, then the tournament runners-up receive the auto-bid. So, while the Lions will fight to bring home hardware, they do so with the comfort that their season will not conclude with a loss.

The selection show for the NAIA National Tournament is Thursday, May 11, at 4:00 p.m. on the NAIA's YouTube page.