ORTIZ'S WALK-OFF SINGLE SPLITS DAY ONE OF A FOUR-GAME SERIES WITH TAYLOR

ATHENS, Tenn. - The RV Olivet Nazarene University Tiger Baseball team split day one of a two-day, four-game series with Taylor University Friday afternoon. The Trojans won game one 8-6 followed by a thrilling 2-1 Alex Ortiz walk-off victory.

Game One: Taylor 8, RV Olivet Nazarene 6  

Griffin Sahli took the mound for the Tigers to begin the afternoon pitching three scoreless innings with four stakeouts and only one hit entering the fourth inning. A Trojan three-run homerun effectively knocked Griffin out of the game in the top of the fourth. Taylor tacked on additional runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings to make it a 7-0 ballgame.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ryan Russman and Robert Jackman got the Tigers on the scoreboard via a slew of TU errors. Both juniors scored on passed balls and cut the deficit to five.

ONU registered their third unanswered run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Christian Amlong drew a walk to score Kai Hudson. The Purple and Gold headed to the ninth inning down 7-3.

The Trojans added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning scoring on a double. Tyler Wheeler ignited a late-game rally in the bottom of the inning hitting a two-run shot scoring Jacob Bulthuis. Hudson followed up the home run with a triple and scored after Russman batted into a fielder's choice. In the very next at-bat, Jackman kept the rally alive with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Alex Ortiz's ground out to the short-stop finished game one losing 8-6.  

Game Two: RV Olivet Nazarene 2, Taylor 1

Ethan Underwood was given the nod for game two of the day as ONU's starting pitcher. The junior right-hander tossed six innings with four strikeouts and only gave up two hits, three walks, and a single run. Underwood started strong retiring the first six batters to reach the third inning. The Trojans took the lead after loading up the bases with two outs and drawing a walk.

The Georgia native settled back in and retired the next nine batters before handing it off to Matthew Nolin in the seventh and final inning. The lefty struck out three Trojans including two with a man on third to send the game to the bottom of the inning.

With one out, Tyler Wheeler smacked a triple to quickly put the tying run in scoring position. Kai Hudson recorded his second RBI of the season with a single to bring home the man on third and level the score. In the next at-bat, Gunnar Pullins found a gap to put the game-winning run at third. Alex Ortiz got a second bite at the apple after being the final out in game one. The Florida native walked it off as his single sent Hudson home to conclude the day.

QUICK HITS (All four games)

• The Tiger pitching staff stuck out 18 batters in two games.
• Tyler Wheeler hit his first triple and third home run of the season. He leads the team with 11 RBIs
• Alex Ortiz hit the Tigers' first walk-off this season
• Jacob Bulthuis recorded two doubles in game one

GAME VITALS

Finals: Game One: TU 8, RV ONU 6 | Game Two: RV ONU 2, TU 1

Records: Taylor 7-6 | ONU 4-6

WHAT's NEXT?

The RV Tigers will finish of the series tomorrow with a double-header against Taylor. Game one's first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. CST with game two slated to start at 1 p.m. CST. Please visit ONUTigers.com to for all the latest information and up-to-date links to follow all the action.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant