The game of baseball is unique in its own way -- because no matter how talented or how prepared a team may be, one swing or one pitch can change the entire complexion of what a contest looks like.

There may be no better example of that at the NAIA level in 2024 than Tuesday afternoon's matchup between the Shawnee State baseball program and the Bluefield (Va.) baseball program.

Down 11-5 entering the bottom half of the seventh inning, Shawnee State mashed four consecutive RBI producing hits and tallied six RBI shots in all en route to producing an incredible eight-run seventh frame, notching each of its eight runs and seven total hits with two outs on the board to take a 13-11 lead.

Then, after getting an insurance tally in the eighth frame of action on an RBI base knock by Caeleb McGraw, the Bears pushed its lead out to a 14-11 margin through eight innings of work -- a gap that Bluefield made up entirely with a four-run ninth inning to take a 15-14 lead heading into what was potentially the final half-inning of a heartbreaking setback.

Instead, Shawnee State rallied again.

Leadoff hitter Nolan Tressler's double to right field, a sacrifice bunt that moved Tressler over to third base by Luis Mejia and an intentional free pass to Eric Oakes set up Zach Gaspar for the opportunity to deliver in walk-off style -- and true to form, the junior from Strongsville, Ohio did just that, shooting a two-RBI double into the outfield to score not only Tressler, but pinch-runner Eli Jones as the Bears won a marathon of a contest in dramatic fashion, 16-15, Tuesday afternoon over the Rams at Branch Rickey Park in Portsmouth.

In the crazy affair, both teams combined for six lead changes and three ties in the contest, which produced 31 runs and 32 hits between both teams. A total of 11 players between both teams (six for Shawnee State and five for Bluefield) enjoyed multi-hit outings, and nine different players (five for Bluefield and four for Shawnee State) scored at least twice each on the basepaths.

Innocent enough start

The game started out in a relatively innocent form to begin matters, as back-to-back singles by Nolan Tressler and Diego Mendoza set up what ultimately ended up being an RBI-producing single to left field by Eric Oakes, putting Shawnee State ahead by a 1-0 margin to begin matters. Bluefield, however, answered with a run of its own, as an error, a wild pitch and a groundout allowed Bluefield to knot the score up at one run apiece.

In the bottom half of the third inning, Shawnee State retook the lead as Oakes' sacrifice fly RBI and a wild pitch allowed the Bears to collect a 3-1 advantage.

Middle inning mashing

However, Bluefield completely changed the trajectory of the contest in the middle innings -- scoring seven straight runs and pushing the envelope in the fourth and fifth frames of work in the process.

Johnny Medina's solo home run was followed by a double by Brady Joslyn, and three batters later, Nick Guerra shot an RBI single while Brady Medlock followed with an RBI double to give Bluefield the point, 4-3.

In the fifth inning of work, Joslyn got things going with an RBI single, and after a two-RBI double by Moises Aristy, Guerra added in a two-RBI single to push the Bluefield advantage to an 8-3 count following the top half of the fifth frame.

Shawnee State answered with a solo home run by Diego Mendoza in the bottom of the fifth, and in the same inning, an error allowed SSU to cut the Bluefield lead to 8-5. The Rams, however, followed with three unanswered runs between the sixth and seventh frames of action, the first pair of runs on RBI singles by Joslyn and Aristy in the sixth frame and the third on a sacrifice fly RBI to push the margin to an 11-5 count.

Seventh inning super stretch

With two gone in the seventh inning, it appeared as if Bluefield would keep its 11-5 advantage heading into the final two innings of action.

That, however, changed dramatically.

Eric Oakes' single to center field and a hit batter put two on for Ryan Scott, whose RBI double to center field scored Oakes. Hunter Warner and Michael De Jesus then followed with back-to-back RBI base knocks that scored Zach Gaspar and Scott, cutting the Bluefield lead in half to 11-8.

The next batter up, Tyler Lund, then launched a deep fly ball to center field that caromed off of the center field fence and after bouncing high off of the fence, rolled toward the middle of the center field grass, resulting in a two-RBI triple that brought in Warner and courtesy runner Eli Jones to bring Shawnee State within an 11-10 margin.

RBI-machine Diego Mendoza then stepped up, and true to form, added in his own RBI single with a shot to shallow right center to score Lund and bring Nolan Tressler over to third base to tie the score. Tressler then scored on a wild pitch to give Shawnee State the lead, and Noah Sniadach -- the 11th batter in the inning -- followed by shooting an RBI double deep down the line in right to score Mendoza, turning the game on its heels as Shawnee State rallied from an 11-5 deficit to a 13-11 lead.

The finish

Seemingly in a groove after the eight-run seventh frame, Caeleb McGraw added his own shallow shot to right field to plate an important eighth inning salvo as his RBI pushed the Shawnee State advantage to a 14-11 count.

But Bluefield answered.

After getting a quick out on the board, a walk was followed by a two-RBI homer by Dalton Graham that brought the Rams within a 14-13 count. Then, after two walks and a single loaded the bases, Guerra stepped up yet again and clubbed a single to right center field to bring the tying and leading runs in, giving Bluefield a 15-14 advantage.

That, however, simply set the stage for what was to come in the bottom of the ninth.

Back at the top of the order, Nolan Tressler was credited with a double after Guerra, the right fielder, lost his balance trying to track Tressler's tailing-off slap to right, giving SSU needed life immediately in the bottom of the ninth. Luis Mejia then posted a sacrifice bunt to move Tressler to third, putting the game-tying run just 90 feet away from home.

After a strikeout, Bluefield had Oakes coming up at the dish -- but chose to intentionally walk the multi-year starter to face another veteran in Gaspar, the cleanup hitter.

And as the junior has done all year long, Gaspar delivered. His lined shot easily dropped to left field and rolled toward the left field corner, not only allowing Tressler, the tying run, to score easily, but courtesy runner Eli Jones to score sliding into home plate as the game-winning run, giving Shawnee State an incredible come-from-behind -- on two separate occasions -- victory.

Additional

Shawnee State (7-10) was again led by Mendoza, who went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored, while Tressler went 2-for-5 with a double and three runs scored himself.

Oakes (2-for-3, two walks, two RBI, two runs scored), Gaspar (2-for-5, double, two RBI, run scored), Scott (2-for-3, double, two walks, RBI, run scored) and Warner (2-for-5, two RBI, run scored) all enjoyed multi-hit outings while Tyler Lund (1-for-4, triple, walk, two RBI, run scored), Michael De Jesus (1-for-1, RBI), Caeleb McGraw (1-for-4, RBI), and Noah Sniadach (1-for-5, walk, RBI, run scored) all reached the hit column for the Bears.

Shawnee State will be back in action Sunday and Monday for what will be a River States Conference series against Brescia (Ky.) -- which was moved from the originally scheduled Friday and Saturday scheduled due to expected rain in the forecast. Sunday's action will consist of a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. while Monday's slate will consist of a single nine-inning contest beginning at 12 p.m.

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