DUBOIS, Pa. – The Apprentice School baseball team kept its season alive with a pair of wins in the elimination portion of the bracket Wednesday, advancing to the final three at the USCAA Small College World Series.

GAME ONE – AS 14, USSU 8
United States Sports University got things started with a massive first inning, scoring five runs in the top of the frame, but the Builders answered in the bottom of the first with two of their own. AS loaded up the bases and drew a walk to score the first before Jett Winslow singled to plate two more and trim the lead down to 5-2.

After another Eagle run in the second, the Builders struck back with a Jackson Thomas double in the second to cut into the lead before Isaac McCallister hit his first homer of the day in the third to tie the game at 6-6. The scoring didn’t end there in the inning as Nate Yeary bunted for a single, plating Baker Green and Jaeden Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to take an 8-6 lead.

After a scoreless fourth, the Builders got another run in the fifth on a RBI groundout before a nearly two-hour lightning delay. The bats stayed hot through the weather as four more came across in the seventh, plating the runs on a bases loaded walk, a two-run double from Green and a RBI groundout.

Charley Higginbotham (7-1) got the win after throwing the first 5.1 innings before the weather delay. He struck out four on the day.

GAME TWO – AS 4, PSUD 1
The Builders took advantage of Lion errors throughout the game. Yeary scored the first run in the bottom of the first on a failed pickoff attempt. AS doubled its lead in the second on a Lucca Pascarella homer over the right field fence.

Another Lion error came to haunt DuBois in the fourth as Jett Winslow scored on another failed pickoff attempt at second base, making the score 3-0. After a sacrifice fly in the sixth by the host team, McCallister homered again, blasting a ball over the right center fence to get to the final score.

Grant Stratton (4-1) went the distance, fanning 10 Lions along the way. He surrendered just one walk and five hits.

The Builders remain in the tournament, needing three wins in a row to hoist the national championship trophy. The road keeps going Thursday against the defending national champions and top-seed Salem at 2:30 p.m.

Story courtesy Walker McCrary/Apprentice Athletics; image courtesy Santino Tarquino/USCAA