KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Union College junior Marty Popham weaved another masterpiece Thursday as the second-seed Bulldogs advanced to the winners' bracket final with a 5-1 decision over No. 3 seed King (Tenn.) College in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament.

The tournament is being held at Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn.

Popham gave up a season-high 10 hits but was able to get out of numerous jams as he tossed his ninth complete game and matched his season high for strikeouts with 11. The Louisville, Ky. native set the single-season program record for wins as he improved to 13-1 on the season and now boasts 103 strikeouts as compared to 17 walks in 88 1/3 innings pitched.

Union (39-12 overall) will now face the winner of the Tennessee Wesleyan College game Friday at 11:30 a.m. in the winners' bracket finale. Tennessee Wesleyan defeated UVa-Wise 9-4 in its second-round game Friday.

Joe Grinstead (Bowling Green, Ky.) manufactured a run for Union in the bottom of the first as he lined a two-out single. After stealing second, he advanced to third on an error and scored thanks to a Benny Fuller wild pitch.

Union missed a golden opportunity to add to its 1-0 lead in the second as it loaded the bases with no outs. However, David Fairbanks (Cincinnati, Ohio) lined out to shortstop Drew Trujillo, who doubled up Matt Brady (Louisville, Ky.) at second. After a walk reloaded the bases, Fuller got out of the jam as Kenny Kysar (Corbin, Ky.) hit into a fielder's choice to leave it a one-run game.

In the fourth, Kysar came through with a two-out, two-run double to give Union a 3-0 advantage.

After a number of missed opportunities, King finally cracked the scoring column in the sixth as Trujillo lined a two-run single just out of the reach of a leaping Lioney Henriquez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at second to plate a run. Pinch-hitter Bryan Cruze followed a line drive of his own, but first baseman Trey Wheeler (Hopkinsville, Ky.) snared it out of the air for the third out, leaving the score at 3-1.

Earlier in the game, Wheeler made a spectacular defensive play when he crashed into the fence to haul in a foul ball by Craig Cant, pulling it out of the stands in the second inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Union loaded the bases with one out when Henriquez lined a single up the middle to drive in Fairbanks, making it a 4-1 contest. However, the threat ended there as Grinstead bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Union added an insurance run as it took advantage of a King error. With two down and runners on the corners, Grinstead singled to center to knock in Dustin Thrasher (Somerset, Ky.) for a 5-1 Union lead.

Fairbanks and Grinstead each went 2-for-4 at the plate with Fairbanks scoring twice. Grinstead stole two bases, scored once and drove in a run.

Four King (30-15 overall) players had two hits off Popham as the Tornadoes outhit Union 10-9. However, four King errors and six walks to the Bulldogs did not help things for the Tornadoes.

Bulldog Notes

• With his two stolen bases, Joe Grinstead now has 37 on the season. The Bulldogs, as a team, stole five bases on the day to give them 158 on the season.
• Matt Brady extended his hit streak to 10 games in going 1-for-3 with a run scored.
• Marty Popham has fanned 11 batters in a game four times this season. In his previous game against King on March 10, he struck out 11 as well.