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ABILENE, Texas -- B.J. Holloway's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday gave Montevallo a 9-8 win over Incarnate Word in the championship game of the NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament at Crutcher Scott Field, sending the Falcsons to their first appearance in the College World Series.
The Falcons (41-16) were making their first appearance in the regional tournament, and they went undefeated through the field, beating West Alabama, Southern Arkansas (twice) and Incarnate Word. The Cardinals -- the champions of the Heartland Conference -- end their season at 38-21.
Montevallo will play North Atlantic Region champion West Chester (Pa.) in the second game Saturday at Paterson Field in Montgomery, Ala. The game will mark the first World Series appearance for both teams.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Falcons put their first two batters on base before Blake Weston came in to pitch for the Cardinals. Pinch-hitter Millard Dawson was the first man Weston faced, and he reached base on a fielder's choice when Weston fielded a bunt and was late with the throw to third trying to get the lead runner.
Weston, though, bounced back by striking out Dave Nanney and Jared Myrick -- both looking -- putting two outs on the board. But on a 1-2 pitch, Holloway singled to center to drive in Travis Fultz with the eventual game-winning run. The Cardinals went up and down in order in the ninth as Zach Andrews struck out the final two batters of the game, setting off a wild on-field celebration by the Falcons.
Incarnate Word jumped out to a 4-0 lead, thanks to a three-run first inning that was keyed by a leadoff triple from Chris Pacheco and a one-out double by Dustin Walls. Adrian Lozano had an RBI single in the inning and Jason Miori an RBI groundout.
The lead was 4-0 before the Falcons rallied to tie the game at 4-4 with a three-run third inning. UIW pushed the lead back to 7-4 after five innings before Montevallo took the lead at 8-7 with a four-run sixth inning. Travis Fultz had a two-run single in the inning, and Dave Nanney gave his team the lead with a sacrifice fly.
But the Cardinals pushed across a run in the top of the eighth inning when Pacheco singled up the middle to drive in pinch-runner Drew Foley.
Montevallo outfielder Daniel Furuto -- who finished the weekend 8 for 16 with four doubles and nine RBI -- was named the MVP of the tournament. He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Daniel Tankersly (first base), Nanney (second base), Fultz (third base), Brantly Clay (outfield) and Rudy Mask (pitcher). Incarnate Word had four players on the team: Chris Solis (catcher), Matt Seale (shortstop), Dustin Walls (designated hitter), and Weston (pitcher). The other all-tournament team members were outfielder Kolby Tucker of West Alabama and pitcher Cody Jones of Southern Arkansas.
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