GAME 1
TIffin 3, West Virginia Wesleyan 1
WINTER HAVEN (Fla.) — West Virginia Wesleyan put up a strong fight but ultimately fell 3-1 to Tiffin in a hard-fought contest. Despite a stellar pitching performance from Hunter Eplin, who struck out seven batters over five innings, a couple of early runs proved too much to overcome.
Tiffin jumped ahead in the first inning, taking advantage of a couple of well-placed hits. But Wesleyan’s defense tightened up, keeping the game within reach and giving the offense opportunities to respond.
In the sixth inning, Thatcher Poteat delivered a clutch RBI single, bringing in Jack Tilton to put Wesleyan on the board. The momentum seemed to shift, but a tough break on the basepaths halted the rally. Despite some great contact from Matthew Neach, who knocked a double, Wesleyan couldn’t quite string together enough hits to complete the comeback.
On the mound, Hunter Eplin showed poise, keeping Tiffin’s lineup in check for most of the game, allowing just two earned runs.
GAME 2
Tiffin 5, West Virginia Wesleyan 4
West Virginia Wesleyan put together a strong rally in the fifth inning, but their comeback effort fell just short in a tough 5-4 loss against Tiffin on Saturday.
The Bobcats found themselves trailing 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth but showed resilience. A huge triple from Luke Burner sparked the offense, driving in two runs before Jack Tilton and Grant Shumaker added RBIs to cut the deficit to one.
Wesleyan had chances late but couldn’t push across the tying run. The pitching staff held firm after the rough fifth, with Landon Wilder tossing 2.1 scoreless innings in relief to give the Bobcats a shot.
