Royals Historic Season Ends in SAC Tournament Quarterfinals - Queens University of Charlotte Athletics

Saturday, April 30

Kodak, Tenn.

2:45 PM

Queens University of Charlotte

29-22

Wingate University

44-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Queens (N.C.)	0	0	0	4	3	1	0	0	0	8	15	2
Wingate	1	0	3	0	1	4	0	0	X	9	16	0

Game Notes

4/30/2022 7:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

KODAK, TENN. - The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team (29-22, 17-7 SAC) lost a thrilling back-and-forth matchup to No. 1 Wingate University (44-6, 22-2 SAC), 9-8, in their final game in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The bats were on fire for both teams, as they combined for 31 hits on the day. With the loss, the Royals historic season and first postseason journey ends.

Dillon Lewis pushed across the Royals' first ever runs in the SAC Tournament, with a three-run blast in the fourth for his eighth home run of the season. MJ Sasapan went 4-for-5 at the plate, with a double and two RBIs and Nick Melton went 3-for-4 with a double. Garrett Evans, Nick Brassington, Carter Foster, and Riley Cheek each added a pair of hits on the day as well.

The Bulldogs would capitalize on a leadoff double in the first, as a sacrifice fly pushed across the first run of the game. The top ranked Bulldogs would extend their lead in the third, adding three runs as they took a 4-0 lead into the fourth. A fielder's choice, an RBI single and another fielder's choice scored the three runs for the Bulldogs.

With just one hit heading into the fourth, the Royals bats would come alive in the fourth as they exploded for four runs. MJ Sasapan led off the inning with a double and he would advance to third on Nick Brassington's single. On the next at-bat, Dillon Lewis would launch a 1-2 pitch into the left-field seats, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Later in the inning, Carter Foster would get an RBI single to knot the game at 4-4.

The Royals bats would continue to be red-hot in the fifth, as they added three more runs. Nick Melton would lead off the inning with a single before scoring on Riley Cheek's RBI-double. On the following at-bat, a MJ Sasapan RBI single scored Cheek. Dillon Lewis would notch a one-out single and steal second putting two runners in scoring position for the Royals.

Garrett Evans would lace a single between the shortstop and third basemen, scoring the third run of the inning. Wingate would pick up two straight strikeouts stranding Lewis at third.

After two consecutive singles put runners on the corners with nobody out for the Bulldogs in the bottom half of the inning, a double-play plated one for the Bulldogs. Heading into the sixth, the Royals held a 7-5 lead.

In the sixth, Nick Melton led off the inning with a double before a MJ Sasaspn single brought Melton home extending the lead to 8-5. The Bulldogs bats would come alive in the sixth, as they pushed across four runs to take a 9-8 lead.

A single, a walk and another single loaded the bases for the Bulldogs. The following at-bat would be a two-RBI single, as the Bulldogs pushed across two before the Royals recorded an out. A sacrifice fly would score another run for the Bulldogs, before another RBI single plated the go-ahead run.

The bats would cool down for both teams in the seventh and eighth innings. The two teams would combine for three hits in the two innings, as the score remained 9-8 heading into the final frame. A two-out walk in the ninth by Mason Pickard would put the tying run on base for the Royals. However, a groundout to second base would end the game as the Royals fell 9-8.

With the loss, that concludes the Royals 2022 season which was a very successful and historic one. Queens won double-digit conference games for the first time in program history and would play postseason baseball for the first time in program history. In just their fourth season as a program, they nearly tripled both their total win total and conference win total from last season.

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