Bryan Goes 1-1 on Day 1 of NAIA Baseball Opening Round
UPLAND, Ind. - No. 5 seed Bryan went 1-1 on the first day of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round on Monday.
Bryan opened play in the Upland Bracket with a 15-9 win over No. seed Columbia (Mo.). The game was a tale of two halves and the Lions dominated the opening half of the game with a 13-0 lead after five and a half innings. Bryan scored eight runs in the second, including a three-run bomb from Keeko Garcia. The Cougars never gave up and slowly began mounting a comeback and cut the deficit to 13-9 after seven innings. Bryan added two insurance runs in the ninth and secured the 15-9 win to advance in the winner's bracket of the Opening Round.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Daniel Dryden registered a season-high 4 hits and 4 RBI's.
- Keeko Garcia tallied his 7th home run of the season.
- Darwin Gregg went 3 for 6 including a two-RBI triple.
- Tanner Moylan got the win with 4 K's in 5 innings and 1 earned run given up.
- Anthony Tejeda closed out the final 2.1 innings with 5 K's and 0 hits.
Bryan then faced No. 1 seed Southeastern (Fla.), dropping a 9-5 decision to the Fire. Southeastern seized control of the game with a five-run fourth inning, increasing its lead to 8-1. The Lions scored twice in the fifth and two more times in the sixth to make it 8-5. Yet, the Fire added an insurance run in the eighth to lock up the 9-5 outcome.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Garcia and Dryden both homered in the loss.
- Grant Lalla went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Bryan will face winner of the Columbia-Taylor game at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
For a complete look at the NAIA Opening Round, click here.