The No. 2 seed Blue Jays couldn't summon another rally in a wild 10-7 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quarterfinal loss to the top-seeded Panthers on Thursday at Robert E. Smith Field.
Westminster College (21-11) played No. 3 seed Spalding (Kentucky) University in an elimination contest Thursday night. Results were not available at press time.
Junior catcher A.C. Long singled home freshman shortstop Adam Mundle in the top of the sixth inning to extend the Blue Jays' lead to 6-4 over Greenville College (20-18).
Third baseman Josh Wheeler jolted Westminster with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning to put the Panthers up by a run.
Greenville designated hitter Tommie Brown scored catcher Trevor Montgomery with an RBI single in the seventh. Right fielder Tyler Whitworth and catcher Trevor Montgomery then delivered RBI singles in the eighth to give the Panthers a 10-6 advantage.
Freshman center fielder Nick Bohlmann fouled out to first base in the ninth inning, allowing freshman pinch-runner Blake Strebler to score and bring the Blue Jays within 10-7 with one out and two runners on.
Junior starter Deion Hughes came to the plate representing the tying run, but lined into a game-ending double play.
Westminster opened the game with three runs in the first, but Greenville tied the contest with three of its own in the bottom of the inning.
The Panthers pushed ahead 4-3 with a run in the second. Senior first baseman Tim Chambliss then raced home on a Greenville error at the plate to tie the game for the Blue Jays in the fourth. Long's one-out grounder to third scored Mundle and allowed Westminster to regain the lead at 5-4.
Hughes (7-3) struck out seven in seven innings in suffering the loss. He gave up eight runs - five earned - on nine hits, while not allowing a walk.
Mundle finished 2-for-3, while Long and Chambliss were both 2-for-4 as the Blue Jays totalled a 11 hits.
Junior third baseman Tyler Branneky was named SLIAC player of the year and garnered first-team all-conference recognition along with Hughes. Branneky batted .427 in league play, finishing with six homers and a conference-leading 36 RBI.
Hughes was slotted as the conference's top utility player after batting .291 with 16 RBI in SLIAC play. On the mound, the Jefferson City native tied for the conference lead in wins (7) and was second with a 1.70 earned-run average.
Junior pitcher Will Miller picked up second-team recognition after finishing the regular season a perfect 6-0. The six victories were tied for the second-most in conference play, while his 1.32 ERA topped the SLIAC.
Senior Cam Backes was a second-team infielder after batting .366 with 16 RBI and 17 runs scored in conference action.
Chambliss used a .303 average and 19 RBI in SLIAC play to gain a third-team infield selection.
Bohlmann batted .349 in conference action to pick up third-team outfield honors, while sophomore infielder Tanner Branneky was named to the SLIAC all-sportsmanship team.