LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After struggling at the plate in their NAIA Baseball Lawrenceville Opening Round first game on Monday, the No. 3-seed Central Methodist University Eagles looked early on in Tuesday's elimination game against No. 5-seed LSU-Shreveport (La.) that they would break out and possibly make a run at the tournament title. But after building a 3-0 lead in the third frame, the Eagles struggled once again and were eliminated by the Pilots, 6-4, here at the Grizzly Baseball Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College.

Central Methodist, which entered the game ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation in batting average (11th - .335), runs batted in (15th – 399) and runs scored (19th – 436), was out hit by the Pilots, 11-9, and couldn't push baserunners across the plate in key situations late in the contest. The loss, which was the second at the tournament, ended CMU's playoff run with a 42-17 record. LSU-Shreveport (39-20) stays alive and will take on No. 1-seed Georgia Gwinnett (38-20) in another elimination game later Tuesday evening.

"I didn't think we were playing our game even when we went up 3-0 in the third inning, but I thought at least we were starting to put some things together," said Central Methodist fourth-year head coach Nate Breland after the game. "Then as the game went on we just couldn't finish them off.

"We didn't hit the ball well the last couple of days like we had all season. And this definitely wasn't the time of the year to struggle hitting the ball."

Chris Danielson (SR/Saugus, Calif.) (7-2) took the loss on the hill for CMU. He started the game, throwing 126 pitches in eight innings. He allowed four earned runs (5 total) on nine hits, with three strikeouts and a pair of walks. C.J. Martin pitched 0.1 inning, allowing one run on two hits, before giving way to Kyle Fulton (JR/Monroe City, Mo.), who did not give up a hit in 0.2 inning.

Alex Naiser was the winning hurler for the Pilots, improving his record to 8-3. In 4.1 innings he did not allow a run on two hits, with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.

Three different Eagles recorded a pair of hits in the game. Brandon Alcala (JR/Alameda, Calif.) went 2-for-3, with a double, a walk and a pair of runs scored. Andrew Thomas (JR/Parker, Colo.) finished 2-for-4, scoring a run, while Zach Beckner (SR/Versailles, Kent.) singled twice in three at-bats, while drawing two walks and driving in a run.

CMU's Dustyn Macaluso (SR/Sacramento, Calif.) tagged a triple, pushed in a run and scored another, while Quinn Conley (SR/Thousand Oaks, Calif.) finished with a single and a RBI and Matt Widhalm (SO/Columbia, Mo.) was perfect 1-for-1.

Three different LSU-Shreveport players posted solo home runs in the game. Kevin Rosario went 2-for-4, with a round tripper, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Beaux Guilbeau

tied the game 3-3 in the top of the sixth with a solo shot. Brenden Meade hit an inside-the-park home run to deep right-center in the seventh inning to give the Pilots the lead for good, 4-3.

The Eagles had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh but they left runners stranded at second and third. CMU had runners at first and second when the third out was called in the eighth frame.

In their last at-bat, the Eagles pushed a run in when Alcala scored from third on a Beckner single. Trailing by a pair of runs, Jared Johnson (JR/DeKalb, Ill.) was left at third and Beckner was left on second when the final out was called.

LAWRENCEVILLE BRACKET
(5-Team Double-Elimination)
Monday, May 15
FIRST ROUND
GM 1: #4 The Master's (Calif.) 8, #5 LSU-Shreveport 4
GM 2: #2 Webber International (Fla.) 3, #3 Central Methodist (Mo.) 0
GM 3: #4 The Master's (Calif) 4, #1 Georgia Gwinnett 3

Tuesday, May 16
GM 4: #5 LSU-Shreveport 6, #3 Central Methodist 4 (CMU eliminated)
SECOND ROUND
GM 5: #2 Webber International (Fla.) (39-15) vs. #4 The Master's (Calif.) (37-21), 2 p.m. CST
GM 6: #4 LSU-Shreveport (39-20) vs. #1 Georgia Gwinnett (38-20), 6 p.m. CST (elimination game)

Wednesday, May 17
GM 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 10 a.m. CST (elimination game)
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
GM 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7, 2 p.m. CST

Thursday, May 18 (if necessary)
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2
GM 9: Teams play again if neither team has 2 losses, 11 a.m. CST

CMU Baseball Contact: John Krueger
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
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