KINGSPORT, Tenn. - A few feet turned out to make an enormous difference.

With two outs and two runners on base in the top of the 10th inning, Argenis Salazar crushed a ball to the left-center gap.

Unfortunately, it went to the deepest part of the Hunter Wright Stadium and came up just short of hitting the wall - or going over it. The ball was instead hauled in for the third out and ended FHU's threat.

Two innings later, Tennessee Wesleyan got a walk-off single and with it ended the season for the Freed-Hardeman Lions in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.

The Lions had a chance again in the top of the 11th after back-to-back two-out hits by Houston Looser and Garrett Ferguson, but Ferguson was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

Tennessee Wesleyan, the site's top seed and the No. 3-ranked team in the NAIA, then got three consecutive one-out hits in the bottom of the inning and finished it off on a single by Cody Hiefnar - his first hit of the game.

J.C. Daily's defense helped extend the game to the 11th inning after he made a diving catch to keep the winning run from scoring in the 10th.

The Lions got a valiant effort on the mound in relief from Brandon Guske (12-4), who pitched five-plus despite dealing with an illness that had sidelined him until today's game.

FHU scored all three of its runs in the first inning, started by a two-run home run from Salazar (11) and an RBI groundout by Bobby Seda.

However, Tennessee Wesleyan starter Chris Washington locked down afterward and along with reliever Brandon Landrie kept Freed-Hardeman from scoring for the rest of the game.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the fourth inning on a two-run home run from Ridge Hoopi-Haslam off Lion starter J.C. Chapman, then tied it in the sixth after a double-play ground ball drove in a runner from third.

Guske then dueled it out with Washington and Landrie for the next five innings before TWC finally broke through in the 11th to keep its season alive.

Hits were equal for both teams with 12 apiece. Pete Trollinger went 3-for-3 for Freed-Hardeman while Daily and Ferguson both had two hits.

The loss ends the Lions' season with a record of 37-16 and caps off a year that saw the program win its third regular season conference title and win at the national tournament for the first time in program history.