Story written and posted by Anthony Perry '08, Fisher College Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. – The Fisher College Baseball team will make a return trip to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Baseball Opening Round next week as they held on for a 9-6 win over fourth-seeded Iowa Wesleyan University at the Continental Athletic Conference Tournament. The victory also sends the Falcons (29-27 overall) to the CAC Championship, where they will face #11 Georgia Gwinnet, the tournament's top seed and host, tomorrow morning. Fisher will need to defeat the Grizzlies twice to capture their first conference title since 2011.

Junior left-hander Ronald Luke (Malden, Mass.) was outstanding on the mound for Fisher in the elimination game. Luke held the Tigers to just one run through the first five frames before getting to trouble in the sixth. He finished allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and striking out four. The trio of sophomores Angel Colon (Boston, Mass.), William Carpenter (Brentwood, N.H.), and junior Angel Rivera (Caguas, Puerto Rico) were able to limit the damage and secure the win for the Falcons.

Offensively, senior Jacob Deziel (Merrimac, Mass.) was the star as the second-baseman finished a triple shy of the cycle on his 3-for-5 performance at the dish. Deziel had to work for his home run as it was an inside-the-park variety and he collected three RBI and three runs scored on the evening. Classmate Nicholas Lucchese (Long Island, N.Y.) was 2-for-5 with two RBI and sophomore Emanuel Rosado (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) also collected two RBI on his 1-for-3 showing.

Iowa Wesleyan was resilient all day and threatened until the last out was recorded. Freshman Cauy Massner (Mediapolis, Iowa) was the pitcher of record as the right-hander, who pitched in relief earlier against Edward Waters, started the ballgame and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over two innings. Fellow freshman Sage Bonner (The Colony, Texas) and sophomore Derek Marrufo (Freemont, Calif.) were the offensive highlights as they each went 3-for-5 and freshman David Amaya (Houston, Texas), who made a highlight reel defensive play in robbing Deziel of that illusive triple, was 1-for-3 with two RBI.
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The NAIA Baseball selection show is scheduled to air on Thursday afternoon at 4pm. That is when the Falcons will find out which one of the 10 host sites they will be traveling to for the Opening Round during the week of May 16-19.