Top Seeds Hold On Day One Of SLIAC Tournament

Both top-seeded teams held up on the opening day of the 2018 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. This marked the first time since 2015 that the top seeds of each division won their opening round games. 

Inside the Game - Spalding 7, Westminster 3 BOX SCORE
Spalding University, the #1 seed in the East Division, started the tournament with a 7-3 victory over #2 seed from the West Division, Westminster College. As he has done all season long, Spalding lead-off hitter Garrett Wilson started the inning with a single for the Golden Eagles. However, he was stranded at third base. But it would not be long before the Golden Eagles put the first run on the board when Quenton Brownlee led the bottom of the second off with a home run. The score would remain that way as aces Jimi Keating and Ian Cassidy battled each other. The Blue Jays found the plate in the 5th inning when Will Stonecipher doubled in Zach Stiles and would later score himself on a Nick Bohlmann single to put Westminster up 2-1. The Golden Eagles promptly grabbed the lead back with three in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run shot by Clay Kelly. Spalding tacked on three more runs in the 7th and after Westminster plated a run in the top of the 9th to make the score 7-3, Golden Eagle pitcher Aaron Mitchell would force the Blue Jays to strand the bases loaded with a fielder's choice to end the game. 

• Westminster out hit Spalding 10-9 in the game but stranded eight runners
• Clay Kelly and Quenton Brownlee each finished with three runs batted in for Spalding
• Golden Eagle Garrett Wilson had a game-high three hits 

Inside the Game - Webster 14, Greenville 7 BOX SCORE
Greenville jumped out to a lead when Klaiton Wolff singled in Travis Ralls, who had tripled to right field. The lead would not last long as top-seeded Webster plated four runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and two more in the 2nd. After back-to-back one-out walks in the 1st, Kyle Kent sent a single through the right-side to put the Gorloks on the board. The scoring continued with three straight RBI singles for Joe Swanson, Conner Wardlaw, and Danny Strohm. Greenville closed the score to 6-5 after a Jesse Getz three-run home run and a Chandler Dix RBI single. But again the Gorloks had an answer with two runs in the 6th. The Panthers' Travis Ralls closed the gap again, hitting a two-run home run to make the score 8-7 before Webster busted the game open with six in the 6th, including three on a home run by Matt Staker. 

• The Gorloks had three players finish with three hits: Kyler Kent, Matt Staker, and Mike Wick
• The home run in tonight's game for Matt Staker was his first collegiate long ball
• Last year's SLIAC Tournament MVP Jesse Getz had a season-high three hits for Greenville

What's Next
Spalding and Webster will meet in the winner's bracket game at 2 p.m. on Friday while Greenville and Westminster will face each other at 5 p.m. tomorrow night. Friday's action will conclude with a game at 8 p.m. between the loser of the day's first game and winner of the day's second game.