Shawnee State BB posts three homers; Tressler takes over, eclipses 100 career hit mark in 9-8 victory over Indiana-Kokomo

KOKOMO, Ind. -- Shawnee State outfielder Nolan Tressler has certainly showcased dynamic talent throughout his career in a Bears uniform.

A career .395 hitter with the Bears since joining the program prior to the start of last season, Tressler has been a Day 1 starter as a center fielder defensively and a table-setting leadoff hitter in the Shawnee State batting order.

On Sunday, Tressler's consistency was rewarded -- and the Georgia product, in turn, led the Bears to a big win.

The outfielder's leadoff single to begin matters in the bottom half of the first inning was the 100th career hit for Tressler in a Shawnee State uniform -- but it was only part of a day where the Peach State native helped will Shawnee State to a critical 9-8 victory over Indiana-Kokomo, as his three-run homer in the sixth inning and his RBI single in the eighth frame accounted for four of the Bears' nine runs on the scoreboard in the one-run win for Rob Ehlers' group, who won its second straight River States Conference series to begin conference play and its fifth series of the year overall with Sunday's triumph at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Ind.

Game Summary

Continuing to hit well and capitalize on opportunities with runners on base, Shawnee State posted its nine runs on eight hits -- with five of those tallies coming in the sixth inning, where Hunter Warner blasted a two-run homer to give the Bears the point and Tressler followed with his own three-run big fly as part of a crooked number that gave the Bears the lead for good in the frame.

Between Tressler, Warner and Jace Parnin -- the latter of which hit a solo home run in the second frame -- Shawnee State amassed three home runs in the game and scored six of its nine runs via the long bomb.

Shawnee State moved to 14-6 overall and 4-2 in the River States Conference with the victory -- which proves to be huge as the top five teams in the RSC sit 3-0, 3-0, 5-1, 4-2 and 4-2 respectively.

Tress a success

A player who has basically turned himself into a talent with a 2-in-5 chance of getting on base via a hit every single outing, Nolan Tressler made his milestone 100-hit outing a day to remember.

Tressler wasted no time getting his 100th career hit, as on the opening at bat, the senior posted a leadoff single to nab that 100th hit, then stole second base to put the Bears in a position to do damage early in the top of the first inning of play.

While Shawnee State didn't score in that frame, Tressler made certain that the Bears wouldn't come up empty in his additional trips to the dish.

With a 4-3 lead in the fifth after Hunter Warner's two-run home run earlier in the sixth inning, Tressler gave the Bears three huge insurance runs as a single by Ryan Scott and a walk by Zach Gaspar in the sixth set up what ultimately ended up being a three-run blast to right center field for the senior's third home run of the season and his 12th in a Shawnee State uniform -- as the Bears increased their lead to a 7-3 margin.

Then, with Shawnee State's lead trimmed down to a 7-6 lead through seven innings of work, a leadoff triple by Tyler Lund set the stage for Tressler to come through again -- as the latter's RBI single back up the middle of the diamond pushed the Bears' lead to an 8-6 mark in an inning where Shawnee State ultimately added two big insurance runs to its lead -- making all the difference in the 9-8 final score.

For his career at Shawnee State, Tressler is not only hitting .395 (102-of-258) at the plate, but has also posted 29 doubles, two triples, and 77 RBI in addition to his 12 career home runs with the Bears. Tressler is up to 169 hits for his college career between his time at Shawnee State, Columbus State (Ga.) and NCAA Division I Georgia Southern.

In 2025 alone, Tressler is hitting .413 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 21 RBI. Tressler has an .OPS of 1.180 on the year.

Pudge the glue guy

A key component to Shawnee State's success over the last two seasons as well, Shawnee State senior infielder Hunter Warner is reliable, to say the least.

Warner, who has turned a team-high eight double plays and has a .984 fielding percentage defensively, has produced in various ways with the bat, as well. Following a walk by Jace Parnin, it was the senior's two-run crank with one out in the sixth inning that gave Shawnee State the lead for good in the contest.

In addition to his efforts defensively, Warner is one of five everyday players on the roster with more walks than strikeouts (13 walks to 11 strikeouts) and also holds a collective .OPS of .955 on the year to date. 

Parnin's second-inning homer opens scoring

An individual who has already nabbed one River States Conference Player of the Week honor already, Shawnee State junior utility talent Jace Parnin has been big in multiple aspects.

That was shown again on Sunday -- as Parnin proved to be a menace all game for Indiana-Kokomo.

In addition to his solo home run in the second inning that started the game's scoring, the junior's sixth-inning walk set the stage for the aforementioned two-run homer by Warner. Then, with the bags full in the eighth frame of action, Parnin's bases loaded walk drove in Tressler for what ended up being the game-deciding run in the Bears' 9-8 triumph.

For the contest, Parnin went 1-for-2 with a home run, three walks, an RBI and two runs scored at the plate. In addition to that, Parnin threw the final one-and-two-thirds innings on the bump for Shawnee State, collecting the save after not allowing a run to cross out of the eight batters that he faced while throwing 18 strikes in 24 pitches.

Additional

Tyler Lund (1-for-4, triple, RBI, run scored), Ryan Scott (1-for-4, run scored) and Diego Mendoza (1-for-4) each joined the above trio in the hit column, while Zach Gaspar and Eli Jones joined Parnin in drawing three walks each with Jones going 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts on the day. Mendoza and Mason Reid also drew one walk each to round out the winning effort.

Shawnee State is scheduled to take on Northwestern Ohio Tuesday afternoon. A further update on time and game site will be provided tomorrow.