Emerson, GA - The Knights baseball team was on the road Friday and Saturday as they traveled to Lakepoint Sports Complex in Emerson, Georgia to take part in the 2022 Southeast Rumble, hosted by Reinhardt University. The Knights were set to take on three teams; Columbia International University, Indiana Tech, and Tennessee Wesleyan University. Each team was named in the preseason NAIA poll with Tennessee Wesleyan ranked the highest at 5th and the other two teams receiving votes. The Knights would take on the Rams of Columbia International University on Friday night. The Knights would be the away team at the neutral site and would start the scoring off in the first inning as
Ryan Wilson would hit a two-run home run, his first of the season. The Knights would score two more runs in the top of the second inning on RBI singles by
Justin Brooks and
Blake Metcalfe as the Knights would take a 4-0 lead after two innings. The Knights would increase their lead in the fourth inning on a two-run home run from Rafael Gomez Jr and an RBI single from
Clayton Smith. The Knights would continue their offensive onslaught with another two runs in the fifth inning with a Metcalfe two-run double and the Knights would hold a 9-0 lead over the Rams. The Rams would score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning but the scoring would end as neither team would score any more runs in the game and the Knights would take a 9-3 win. The win would be the 500th career win for Coach
Paul Knight as a coach of a 4-year institution. The Knights would return to Lakepoint Sports Complex on Saturday as they would take on the Warriors of Indiana Tech. The Knights would fall behind early as the Warriors would score two runs in the top of the second inning but the Knights would answer back in the bottom half of the inning with two runs, one scoring via an error on the Warriors catcher and a
JT Rice RBI groundout. The Warriors would score runs in the third and fourth innings and the Knights would be down 4-2. The Knights would find their offense in the fifth inning as they would score two runs on a Brooks RBI groundout and a
Brian Herrera RBI single. The game would remain tied at 4-4 until the bottom of the eighth inning as the Knights would get an RBI single from
Paolo Brossier and a walk by Gomez Jr with the bases loaded to give the Knights a 6-4 lead.
Caleb Lanoux would be credited with the win after coming in the get the last out of the eighth inning before closing out the game in the ninth inning. The Knights would have one more game to play as it would be their toughest of the three games as they would take on the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan University. The Knights would have a tough time doing anything offensively as they would not get their first hit of the game until the fourth inning on a
Derick Stager single. The Bulldogs would score their first run in the fifth inning and the Knights would trail 1-0. A leadoff single by Metcalfe would get the sixth inning started for the Knights but three straight outs would not produce any runs. The Bulldogs would score two more runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the eighth as the Knights would not get any more hits and the Knights would lose 4-0. The Knights will return to Lakepoints Sports Complex on Tuesday as they will play another neutral site game, this time against the Bryan College Lions, in a rematch of last year's postseason NAIA Opening Round matchup. The Knights took both games from the Lions last year in extra innings. First pitch is scheduled for 3 PM EST.
