COLUMBIA, S.C. – Jacksonville University baseball battled to the end, putting the tying run at third in the ninth before falling 4-3 to #1 seed Old Dominion on Friday of the NCAA Baseball Championship Columbia Regional at Founders Park.
 
Tyler Santana pitched a complete game for the Dolphins (16-33), who exploded for three runs in the first, but were held in check the rest of the night.
 
The first started with a one-out double to center by Dakota Julylia, who scored when Mike Cassala singled to center. Cory Heffron walked to move Cassala into scoring position, and Elias Flowers flared a single to plate Cassala and Heffron advanced to third. Hunter then ripped a single to center to make it 3-0.
 
Old Dominion answered back quickly, when the leadoff man walked and the next batter hit a home run to center to trim the JU lead to one.
 
Jesus Pacheco led off the second the with a single off the leg of the Monarch's starting pitcher, which forced him to leave with an injury. Ruben Someillan hit a line drive to the second baseman, which turned into a double play at first and ended the threat.
 
The first batter in the second for ODU legged out an infield single, and with two outs, a check swing bleeder up the third base line was a hit to put two on, before a double off the end of the bat snuck down the first base line to plate two and put ODU ahead for good, 4-3.
 
Santana settled into a groove after that, rattling off scoreless inning after scoreless inning to keep the Dolphins in it. He struck out the side in sixth, and bookended the seventh with strikeouts as well, retiring 17 consecutive batters from the second until the eighth.
 
JU put runners on in the third, but the two-out rally came up short, then again in the seventh and eighth, but the runners did not advance pass first.
 
The best chance came in the ninth. Tommy Joseph hit a leadoff pinch-hit single, and was replaced by pinch-runner Blake DeLamiellure. Jackson Grabsky roped a one-out single to center, and Pacheco grounded out to advance the runners. Someillan's grounder up the first-base line was fielded by the pitcher and glove-flipped to first to end the game.
 
ON DECK
 
Jacksonville faces #3 seed Virginia in a loser's bracket game on Saturday at noon.
 
THREE STRIKES
 

• Ruben Someillan's 48-game on-base streak ended with an 0-5 night at the plate
• Jesus Pacheco extended his hit-streak to 13 games and on-base streak to 22 games
• Tyler Santana became the first Dolphin pitcher since Chris Anderson in 2013 to record 100 strikeouts in a single-season