Baseball falls to Birmingham Southern in first round NCAA action

Baseball falls to Birmingham Southern in first round NCAA action

SAUGET, Ill. -- The baseball team opened NCAA national tournament play with a 14-6 loss to NCAA Division III No. 5 Birmingham Southern in the Central regional tournament hosted by Webster.

Starting pitcher Adam Lamb ran into trouble early as Birmingham Southern dropped four runs on the scoreboard in the first inning.

The Panthers answered immediately, tying the game with a four run second inning.  Shane Olmsted reached on an error by the shortstop and went to second when Austin Marsh hit into a fielder's choice to the first baseman.  The first baseman threw the ball away to put runners on first and second, and Bryce Pearce followed by collecting a walk to load the bases.

Jesse Getz continued his clutch hitting as he cleared the bases with a three-run triple, and he scored on an RBI single by Danny Strohm.

Lamb shut down the Birmingham Southern bats in the second and third innings but allowed three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Lamb worked the fifth inning before wrapping up the day with a pitching line that saw him allow seven runs, six earned, on eight hits as his record fell to 3-3.

Logan Murphy relieved Lamb and permitted seven runs over 1.2 innings.

Greenville rallied in the ninth inning as the Panthers loaded the bases, and Getz delivered a two-run double.

The Panthers (30-16) will face the loser of today's Washington-St. Louis and North Central game at Noon on Friday.