Rust led the game in the first inning after scoring a run without recording a hit. Jalin Thomas led off the game with a walk, advanced to third on a groundout and came around to score on a sacrifice fly to give Rust a 1-0 lead.
Their lead doubled to two in the top of the third inning as it was Thomas this time driving in the run. With Tremaine Callaway on first base, he hit a grounder at the Edward Waters first baseman who subsequently scooped it up and made the solo put out at the bag. Callaway was on his way to second on contact, but with the play now requiring a tag, the Edward Waters first baseman tried to make a perfect throw to get the lead runner and instead threw it well into the outfield allowing Callaway to take third. The Tigers’ third baseman also tried to get Callaway by throwing it to third, but that throw, too, got away and Callaway came all the way around to score, making it 2-0.
But from there, Edward Waters began to find their rhythm offensively. The Tigers strung together at bats, drawing both a walk and a hit by pitch in the bottom of the third before Daquarius Thompkins singled home their first run of the game.
The Tigers had a runner on third base with no one out to open up the bottom of the fourth inning, but Edward Waters was only able to push across one run before the inning came to an end. It was another RBI single, this one from Keilin Washington, that tied the game at 2-2, heading into the fifth inning.
Edward Waters put together another workhorse-type inning in the bottom of the sixth, drawing three walks and registering one hit to bring in another run. Anthony Roman led off the inning with a walk, prompting the pitching change for Rust. Roman was pinch run for by Jarod Hutchinson, who tried to use his speed to take second base, but he was thrown out trying to steal for the inning’s first out. John Nobles drew the second walk of the inning and Washington took advantage, tripling to right center field to bring in Nobles and break the 2-2 tie. The Tigers threatened to add more to their lead, but Montes fouled out and Thompkins flew out to end the inning.
It was the seventh inning that blew the game open in favor of Edward Rust. Again, the Tigers worked counts and drew walks at crucial times in the inning. Leonel Garcia drew a one-out walk then advanced to second on a wild pitch. His walk was followed by another free pass drawn by Hugo Schoening, putting two runners on base with just one out. Anthony Roman hit a ball to deep left field, but it was tracked down by Rust for the second out, however, both Garcia and Schoening advanced on the long fly out, putting two runners in scoring position. A Washington double brought in both runners and started a two-out rally. Another walk put runners on first and second and from there, the inning started to get away from Rust. Washington and Nobles scored on a fielding error by the Bearcats second baseman, and then two batters later, both Montes, who reached on that error, and Thompkins, who reached on another seventh inning walk, came home after a fielding error by the Rust third baseman. When the dust settled on the seventh inning, it was a 9-2 game.
While most would assume that Edward Waters would coast to the first-round victory, leading by seven runs and just six outs left for Rust, the Bearcats never backed down. Rust had two runners on with just one out in the eighth inning, but Edward Waters got out of the inning with a double-play.
In the ninth inning, however, the pressure started to mount. Rust’s Khalil Robinson drew a walk to lead-off the inning followed by Jalik Demar being hit by a pitch to quickly put two runners on base. Both Robinson and Demar advanced into scoring position on a passed ball just before the bases were loaded by the Bearcats’ D’Anfrenee Bonner drawing the second walk of the inning.
Still no one out, Malik Berrien stepped up to the plate and singled through the right side of the infield, bringing in two runs to make it 9-4. Berrien advanced to second on the throw, giving Rust two runners in scoring position again. Hubbard grounded out to second base but knocked in another run and pushed Berrien to third in the process, which was a key move as Berrien scoring on a wild pitch in the next at bat to make it 9-6.
Unfortunately for Rust, with the bases now empty, Edward Waters seemed to settle down enough to close out the game as the next two batters flew out and grounded out to end the contest.
Edward Waters advances to play Florida Memorial in the NAIA bracket semifinals. That game is scheduled to start on Thursday, May 12th at 12:30 p.m. CDT. Rust will look to bounce-back and avoid elimination by winning their game against Talladega in the last game of the night tomorrow, May 12th, with a start time of 8:00 p.m. CDT.
