BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The 2026 Mid-South Conference Baseball Tournament is down to its final four teams after two teams were eliminated today at Bowling Green Ballpark.
No. 4-seed Cumberland (Tenn.) and No. 6-seed Bethel (Tenn.) each won today and remain unbeaten. The two teams meet at 11 a.m. CT on Friday with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship game.
Campbellsville (Ky.) and Cumberlands (Ky.) also remain alive. The two teams play in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. CT.
1) Cumberlands (Ky.) def. 2) Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) - 4-3
Cumberlands overcame a 2-0 deficit with four runs in the middle innings and hung on late for the 4-3 win over Freed-Hardeman.
The Patriots (42-8) used a two-run home run from Ronald Almanzar in the third inning to tie the game at 2-2, and Clay Shelton provided an RBI single in the fourth inning to push Cumberlands in front 3-2.
The Patriots added an important insurance run in the sixth with an unearned run to take a 4-2 advantage.
The Lions (32-17) cut the deficit in half with an unearned run off an RBI sacrifice fly by Chase Eakes.
Freed-Hardeman threatened in the top of the ninth as Brennen Gibson drove a ball to the warning track in left field. But it fell just short, and a double play ended the game one batter later to help Cumberlands advance.
Wesley Culley -- the MSC Pitcher of the Year -- picked up the win, allowing two runs on six hits over five innings. Justin Cortez did the rest, picking up his fifth save of the season, allowing an unearned run on two hits over the final four innings.
Cumberlands plays Campbellsville in an elimination game on Friday.
6) Bethel (Tenn.) def. 4) Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) - 5-3
Bethel's Cinderella run continued on Thursday as the Wildcats (14-28) won for the third time in the tournament, including knocking off two higher seeds. Bethel never trailed in a 5-3 win over No. 4-seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).
The Blue Raiders' (19-29) tournament run ended with the loss.
Juan Diego Ramos led the Wildcat offense with a pair of hits, including a two-run single in the first inning to give Bethel the early 2-0 lead.
Bethel fought off every Lindsey Wilson attempt to get back in the game.
The Blue Raiders scored in the third inning to trim the lead to 2-1, and Bethel answered with a run in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-1 advantage. Lindsey Wilson scored in the fifth, and the Wildcats responded with a run in the sixth.
Bethel's Klayton Wright earned the win in relief, allowing one run on five hits in his 3-1/3 innings of work. Matt Ray secured the win with a two-inning save -- his first of the season.
Bethel meets Cumberland in the winner's bracket final on Friday.
3) Cumberland (Tenn.) def. 5) Campbellsville (Ky.) - 1-0
Cumberland's Camden Williamson sacrifice fly plated the only run of the game in the second inning in a 1-0 win over Campbellsville, in a game that took two hours and 17 minutes to play.
Mateo Santos hurled a complete-game shutout, scattering eight hits while striking out four Tigers to improve to 7-2 on the season.
Campbellsville's Joe McBride was equally effective on the bump for the Tigers (26-22). He suffered the hard-luck loss despite allowing just one run on five hits in a complete-game effort. McBride ended the game, striking out eight batters.
Cumberland's Caleb Royer -- who scored the only run of the game -- had two of the Phoenix's (25-25) five hits.
Cumberland meets Bethel with a finals appearance on the line, while Campbellsville locks up with Cumberlands in an elimination game on Friday.