Millington, Tenn. --- The Bethel University Baseball team (0-1) fell to the Blue Mountain Christian Toppers (1-0) 11-3 after an eight-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
The Pilots scored first in the top of the second with a solo home run by sophomore infielder Seth Ambrose and an RBI triple by Jeremy Wiersema to score junior Thomas Dolan.
 
The third inning gave the Toppers a chance to chip away at the Pilot lead with an RBI single by Blue Mountain Christian's Reiley Tate. The Toppers tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single, then took the lead with a three-run home run to put the Toppers up 5-2.
Eli MacDonald brought the Pilots within two runs with an RBI single to score Cooper Tolson to make it a 5-3 game going into the eighth inning.
 
The Toppers put up six insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, starting with a two-run home run, an RBI single, an RBI double, and an RBI off a fielder's choice, and scored one run on an error.
 
Wiersema and MacDonald both had multi-hit games with two hits each, and Wiersema stole two bases for the Pilots.
 
Junior Right-handed Pitcher, Frank Plesac, had a solid start with 11 strikeouts on only two hits, two walks, and one earned run in a five-inning outing.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• The Pilots were outhit 9-6 and fell short of RBI's 10-3.
• Frank Plesac was one inning shy of a quality start after pitching five innings and letting up no runs.

 
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots continue the three-game neutral site series tomorrow with the first pitch for game one starting at noon for a double-header at the USA Baseball Complex in Millington, Tenn. There will only be live stats available for the rest of the series, but you can find the live stats at bupilots.com.
 
For the latest information on each of Bethel University's 31 intercollegiate athletic teams, visit BUPilots.com or follow the Pilots on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @BUPilots or YouTube at /BethelSportsNetwork.