Baseball Fends off Elimination Again, Will Play LCU for Trip to Pod Championship

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - For the second time in a matter of hours, UNOH baseball fought off elimination in the NAIA Opening Round advancing to the third day of the Lawrenceville Bracket. The Racers avenged their opening game loss to Talladega with a 9-5 win in the rematch to move forward in the loser's side of the bracket. The back-to-back victories for UNOH on Tuesday mark the first time since 2018 that the Racers have earned more than one win in the national tournament and just the third time ever.

Pitching steered the action for a second time with three Racer hurlers combining for just three total hits over nine innings. Brayden Lybarger led the charge going four and two-thirds innings with just two hits and five strikeouts. The UNOH offense aided the senior right-hander by scoring four runs in their first two at bats logging five of their eleven total hits. Cesar Grau and Tyler Huff both doubled in the first bringing in three with an error aiding a fourth in the second.

After four scoreless frames, Lybarger ushered three walks and hit a batter in the fifth giving up all five Talladega runs in one go and seeing his team go behind by one. Carter Hicks (2-0) came in to help his team close out the frame and ended up earning the decision after his offense took back the lead in their next trip to the plate. Casey Barnes tied the game on the first pitch of the inning rocketing a solo shot over the wall in left center field. Zach Grigalis finished the frame with a two-out RBI single that put UNOH on top for good, 6-5.

Aidan Nugent took over the mound duties in the bottom of the inning and went on to have his most dominant outing of his career. The senior from Canada completely shut down the potent Tornado offense facing the minimum of twelve batters with five strikeouts over the final four innings. A balk and a sacrifice fly helped the Racers tack on two insurance runs in the eighth with the final score coming from a two-out RBI double by Zach Grigalis in the ninth.

Grigalis, Fabian Romero, Cesar Grau, and Dylan Mroz powered the UNOH offense with eight of their eleven hits and five of seven runs batted in. Eliomar Otero logged just one hit in the game but reached in four of six plate appearances scoring a run all four times.

With the win, UNOH moves foward in the loser's bracket setting up a showdown with No. 24 Louisiana Christian on Wednesday for a chance to play the host Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies in the pod championship. The Racers and Wildcats will square off for the first time ever at 11:00 AM EST with the winner having to play a second game against the Griz at 3:00 PM to stay alive. The game will be broadcast again on the Grizzly Digital Network that can be found at the GGC YouTube page here: Tournament Broadcast

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