The Dragons survived their marathon game with West Virginia Wesleyan, defeating the Bobcats 9-8 in 14 innings, using Brayden Callihan's walk off single to do so.
Little did both sides know, it was going to be a long day at the yard, five hours worth to be exact. The Bobcats got on the board first against Tiffin, clubbing a solo home run in the top of the 2nd to take a 1-0 lead. West Virginia Wesleyan added a run in the 4th to make it 2-0, using three hits to account for the run.
Tiffin clawed a run closer in their half of the 4th, plating a run on Alec McCurry's run scoring single to left field to make it 2-1.
A half inning later, it looked mighty grim for the Dragons, allowing the Bobcats to cross the plate six times on six hits to make it 8-2. In the bottom of the 7th the Bobcats gave the Dragons a run back on a run scoring balk to pull the Dragons to within five runs at 8-3.
Tiffin's bats became white hot in the bottom of the 8th, using three hits and three errors to score five runs. A single and two errors loaded the bases for Tiffin. Ryan Davins earned a run batted in with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 8-4. Kyle Lento then singled to reload the bases, and a Bobcat wild pitch enabled another Tiffin run to score to push the score to 8-5. The bases became loaded a batter later, as Jack Dennis walked. A fielder's choice garnered John Heckman a run batted in and pulled the score to 8-6. Noah Heard pulled the Dragons to within a run with a single to right field, and another error by West Virginia Wesleyan allowed Tiffin to tie the score at eight all.
The offensive well ran dry for quite some time for both sides after the 8th inning, as Tiffin's pitching staff surrendered only two hits over the final six innings of play. At the plate the Dragons struggled as well in the extra frames, but in the 14th Tiffin found paydirt. An error put the winning run on base. Luke Brust was summoned from the bench to pinch run, and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs and two on, Brayden Callihan had the opportunity to send the home side happy, and he delivered with a ringing single to center field to give Tiffin a walk off 9-8 victory.
On the mound, Michael Ross was brilliant in relief, tossing six innings while striking out seven. Deylen Miley earned the win for Tiffin on the hill, hurling 1 2/3rd innings. At the plate, Kyle Lento finished 3 for 6 with two runs scored. Brayden Callihan finished the game 3 for 7 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
The Dragons will continue their stretch of games in Florida tomorrow with a game against Walsh at 3:00 p.m. and Embry-Riddle at 7:00 p.m.