Union College pulled off a most daunting task as it defeated top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan College twice to win the 2008 NAIA Region XII Baseball Tournament Saturday to repeat as champions.

Coming out of the losers' bracket, No. 2 seed Union had to defeat Tennessee Wesleyan twice in order to capture the title. Union won the first game 8-4 behind another strong performance from junior pitcher Marty Popham (Louisville, Ky.). Then, Union built a 5-1 lead in the second contest and held on for the 5-4 decision and its second region crown in a row.

Union (45-15 overall) now advances to the South Central Super Regional to face Cumberland (Tenn.) University, which won NAIA Region XI. The super regional winner will receive an automatic berth to the NAIA World Series.

The super regional, which will be a best-of-three series, will begin Wednesday at 2 p.m.

In the decisive game, both teams scored a run in the first, but Union took a 2-1 lead in the second when Kenny Kysar (Corbin, Ky.) doubled in a Matt Brady (Louisville, Ky.).

Union stretched the margin to 5-1 in the third when Justin Hart (Lake Mary, Fla.) belted a two-run home run and Brady added a solo shot. The home runs were the eighth this season for both Hart and Brady.

Tennessee Wesleyan (44-17 overall) scrapped back with three runs in the fifth, cutting the margin to 5-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tennessee Wesleyan threatened to tie the game or even take the lead when it had runners on the corners with one out. However, Marcus White (Lubbock, Texas) struck out David Miller looking and then got Vladimir Frias to ground out to first basman Trey Wheeler (Hopkinsville, Ky.) to get out of the jam.

White got Tennessee Wesleyan to go down quietly in the ninth. The right-hander even threw his hands up in celebration when Alan Wimmer grounded out to second baseman Lioney Henriquez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) for the final out.

White pitched the final five innings to pick up the win as he improved to 8-4 on the season. He allowed three runs - two earned, on three hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Lance Dougherty (Canyon, Texas) got the start and went four innings, surrendering one run on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

Kysar finished the game 3-for-5 with a RBI, while Hart was 1-for-4 with three RBIs. Joe Grinstead (Bowling Green, Ky.) went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Gary Tucket paced Tennessee Wesleyan at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, while Dean McDermond was 2-for-2.

Kris Jiggitts suffered the loss, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in three innings of work.

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

Going on three days rest, Popham struggled early as Tennessee Wesleyan scored two in the first and a run in each the third and fourth innings in taking a 4-2 advantage. Union scored twice in the bottom of the third.

However, Popham (Louisville, Ky.) settled down and tossed five shutout innings to close out the game.

Meanwhile, the Union offense kicked it up a notch and batted around in the fifth, scoring four runs in taking a 6-4 advantage.

Union tacked on two more runs in the eighth en route to the victory.

Popham is now 15-1 on the year with 11 complete games and 118 strikeouts. Against Tennessee Wesleyan, he gave up four earned runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Offensively, the Bulldogs' 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup combined to go 8-for-11 with five runs scored, five RBIs and three triples. 

Kysar tied a school record with two triples as he went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Chris Beggs set the record back in 1998 with two three-baggers against Berea (Ky.) College.

Henriquez finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI, while Grinstead went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a triple.

Jeremy Beeching suffered the loss for Tennessee Wesleyan as he lasted four innings and gave up six earned runs.