Results from the second day of the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID.
Josh Landry – photo by Liza Rosales
Hope International 11, Kansas Wesleyan 5 (Kansas Wesleyan eliminated). The Coyotes got two runs in the top of the first, but the Royals answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. The Coyotes got two more runs in the top of the third, one of them a home run by Tyler Favretto, but the Royals got the winning run in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Amari Bartee, and pulled away with three runs in the fourth, on a two-RBI single by Dean Toigo, and an RBI double by Ryan Maciel. The Royals led 9-4 at that point, and were held to one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings by reliever Josh Landry (normally a starter for the Royals). He got a save. Starter David Rudd-Grow got the win, allowed five runs on six hits, struck out six, threw 98 pitches. J.J. Cruz finished 2-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored for the Royals. Kendall Foster went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and two RBI for the Coyotes. Box score
U. of the Cumberlands 6, William Carey 4 (William Carey eliminated). The Patriots started Cesar Avila, one of the best pitchers in the NAIA. He went seven innings, recorded ten strikeouts, threw 126 pitches, but the Crusaders kept it close by scoring four runs on nine hits on him. Three of those runs came in the top of the sixth, on a home run by Braydon Coffey. That gave the Crusaders a 4-2 lead, but the Patriots answered with a grand slam home run by Charlie Muñiz in the bottom of the sixth. That was it for the scoring. The Patriots used two relievers in the eighth and ninth innings, Caleb Plummer and Chipper Korbacher. Neither of them allowed a hit, and Korbacher struck out two of the three batters he faced. Crusader starter Dario Herrera got the loss; he hit a batter and walked two more to load the bases, but it was reliever Preston Ratliff who gave up the Muñiz home run. Ratliff hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, was 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored. Max Harper went 2-for-4 for the Patriots, batted in the other two Patriot runs. This was Avila’s 13th win of the season, and Korbacher’s twelfth save. Box score
Trey Tarver – photo by Khaxil Stewart
Arizona Christian 5, Southeastern 3 (11 innings). Matthew Beckworth hit an RBI single in the top of the eleventh to get the Firestorm a win over the #1-ranked Fire. Trey Tarver moved from first base to the mound at the beginning of the tenth inning, and didn’t allow a hit. He walked the first batter he faced in the tenth inning, but that batter was erased with a double play, so he faced the minimum six batters, struck out one of them. It was his first win of the season.
This game was pitchers’ duel between Darien Smith of the Fire and Adrian Santa Cruz for the first six innings. The score was 2-2 when Smith was relieved after seven innings and 102 pitches. Santa Cruz went 6 1/3 innings, threw 96 pitches, was relieved by Payton Robertson, who retired both batters he faced. Both Smith and Santa Cruz recorded four strikeouts; Smith allowed four hits, Santa Cruz five.
The Fire got on the board first with a home run by Christopher Munoz in the bottom of the third inning. Munoz added an RBI single in the fifth. It was the same Trey Tarver who got the Firestorm on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI on a ground out. Kane Kiaunis tied it with an RBI single. The Firestorm took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Jared Anderson. They nearly won it in regulation. Their run in the bottom of the ninth was the result of two errors, their only errors of the game. Chayce Bryant pinch-hit for Landrey Wilkerson, and reached first on a throwing error. Wilkerson re-entered, and stole second base. He then got caught between second and third, but a bad throw allowed him to go home and send the game into extra innings. Anderson and Kiaunis both finished 2-for-5. Tarver also hit a double. Munoz finished 2-for-5. Reece Wissinger, who entered the game in the eighth inning, got the loss.
Attendance: 1,835. The Firestorm are now 5-0 in Lewiston. Box score
Georgia Gwinnett 5, Indiana Southeast 2. The Grizzlies led this one all the way, although the Grenadiers kept it close. The Grizzlies got their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a squeeze bunt attempt that should have failed, but the Grenadier catcher missed the tag. They added a run on a ground out by Paul Winland Jr., and an RBI single by Joe Quelch. They added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Braxton Meguiar. The Grenadiers finally got on the board with an RBI double by Logan Murphy in the top of the seventh, and got their second run with an RBI on a fielder’s choice by Slater Schield. The Grizzlies completed the scoring with an RBI single by Jackson Cobb in the bottom of the seventh.
Kaleb Hill went the distance for the Grizzlies. He allowed two runs on four hits, struck out nine, walked three, threw 144 pitches. He wasn’t very tired; he struck out the side in the ninth inning. Grenadier starter Connor Sims got the loss; he pitched five innings, allowed two earned runs on six hits, struck out seven. Cobb finished 2-for-3. Murphy finished 2-for-4. Attendance: 1,615. Box score
NAIA recap: Three of Four Higher Seeds Win on Day Two of 2024 Avista NAIA World Series
Schedule for Monday:
8:35 AM PDT: Southeastern vs. U. of the Cumberlands (loser
out)
11:35 AM: Hope International vs. Indiana Southeast (loser
out)
3:05 PM: Reinhardt vs. Arizona Christian
6:35 PM:
Tennessee Wesleyan vs. Georgia Gwinnett
