The Saints defeated Southeastern Community College in the elimination bracket championship game 6-3 Tuesday evening to stay alive at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Southeast Regional tournament in Martinsville, Va.

Winning pitcher Cale Nolen allowed three runs on 10 hits and struck out three batters in a complete game.

LBWCC must win the next two games against Lenoir today to win the regional title. The first game starts at 11 a.m. EST.

In their first game Tuesday, the Saints fell to top-ranked Lenoir 7-4 to drop into the loser’s bracket.

Lenoir struck out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on three hits and one error as Aaron Jones and Randy Odell provided two of the three hits, along with an RBI each.

The Saints tied the game at two-all in the top of the third inning without doing much hitting.

With the bases loaded, Ryan Waltman was hit by a pitch that scored Chezz McCann.

Then, Shane Turner was hit by a pitch that would score Jeremy Williams, who reached on base by getting hit by a pitch.

Lenoir scored one run in the third inning on a solo home run from Andrew Manning.

Winning pitcher Keith Spinner allowed four runs on six hits and struck out nine batters in nine innings.

The Saints scored their last two runs in the top of the fourth inning to take their first lead of the game.

With McCann and Cory Reed at first and third base, respectively, Williams reached on an error by the second baseman that would eventually score Reed.

Boone Shear hit a fielder’s choice RBI to score McCann.

LBWCC scored two runs on one hit, one error with one man left on base.

Jeffery Enloe allowed seven runs on 10 hits and struck out six in 7.2 innings for the loss.

Lenoir added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead, and then capped the win scoring two in the eighth.

Chad Helms was 2-for-3; McCann was 2-for-5 with two runs; and Williams, Shear, Waltman and Turner had one RBI each for the Saints.