[Baseball] Pilots end Eagles’ playoff run, 6-4

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After struggling at the plate in their NAIA Baseball Lawrenceville Opening Round first game on Monday, the No. 3-seed Central Methodist University Eagles looked early on in Tuesday's elimination game against No. 5-seed LSU-Shreveport (La.) that they would break out and possibly make a run at the tournament title. But after building a 3-0 lead in the third frame, the Eagles struggled once again and were eliminated by the Pilots, 6-4, here at the Grizzly Baseball Complex on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College.

Central Methodist, which entered the game ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation in batting average (11th - .335), runs batted in (15th – 399) and runs scored (19th – 436), was out hit by the Pilots, 11-9, and couldn't push baserunners across the plate in key situations late in the contest. The loss, which was the second at the tournament, ended CMU's playoff run with a 42-17 record. LSU-Shreveport (39-20) stays alive and will take on No. 1-seed Georgia Gwinnett (38-20) in another elimination game later Tuesday evening.