NAIA Opening Round, day 2

Hope International 12, Lewis-Clark State 1 at Lewiston, ID. Halted by the run rule after seven innings. The Royals got their second complete game and excellent pitching performance in two days. This time, it was Josh Landry. He held the Warriors to three hits, and had a shutout going until two out in the bottom of the seventh. He struck out six, walked three, and hit three batters.

The Royals got on the board with an RBI single by Matthew Pinal in the top of the first inning, followed by Branden Chun-Ming getting an RBI by reaching on a fielder’s choice. Chun-Ming hit an RBI single in the third inning, and Julian Francois went home on a play when Chun-Ming was caught stealing. Mario Tostado hit a two-run home run in the fourth. Trotter Boston hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to give the Royals the ten-run margin.

Jantzen Lucas started for the Warriors, got the loss. Pinal finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. Kyle Harvey went 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored. box score recap

CourtesyRunner 🇲🇽🇨🇦 on X (formerly Twitter): “Mario Tostado hit a two-run HR for @HIUBaseball Hope International in the 4th innings to give them a 7-0 lead over @LCWarriors Lewis-Clark State. The score remains 7-0 in the 6th inning. Josh Landry has held the Warriors to 2 hits. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/dDMKC8Pxcy / X”

Mario Tostado hit a two-run HR for @HIUBaseball Hope International in the 4th innings to give them a 7-0 lead over @LCWarriors Lewis-Clark State. The score remains 7-0 in the 6th inning. Josh Landry has held the Warriors to 2 hits. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/dDMKC8Pxcy

The Warriors will play Wayland Baptist in an elimination game at 2:30 PM PDT Wednesday. The winner will play Hope International at 6 PM for the championship.

British Columbia 14, Indiana U. Southeast 4 at Hattiesburg, MS. Halted by the run rule after seven innings. The Grenadiers were done in by eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. It started with an RBI double by Mitchell Middlemiss. Kellen Bourne hit a two-RBI triple and David Draayers hit an RBI single before the Grenadiers recorded the first out of the inning. Jonny McGill hit an RBI single, Trent Lenihan hit a sacrifice fly, and Middlemiss hit a two-RBI single to complete the rally. McGill hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to give the Thunderbirds the ten-run margin.

It was Kaden Zarowny who hit a three-run home run in the second inning to start the scoring. Russell Young hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, and another run scored on an error.

Ryan Heppner started for the Thunderbirds, left the game after 4 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits, struck out four. He was relieved by Evan Hoegler, who got the win. He allowed four hits, but all four of them were in the top of the seventh inning, which started the the Thunderbirds leading 14-3 and trying to preserve the run-rule margin. Hoegler gave up four straight hits and a run, and he was relieved by Adam Khan with nobody out and the bases loaded. Khan proceeded to strike out the first batter he faced, then got a double play ball to end the game. He threw a total of six pitches. Grenadier starter Brendan Whalen got the loss. Draayers finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Nolan Bowser went 3-for-3 for the Grenadiers. box score

CourtesyRunner 🇲🇽🇨🇦 on X (formerly Twitter): “Kaden Zarowny @KadenZarowny hit a three-run HR in the bottom of the 2nd inning to give @ubc_baseball British Columbia a 3-0 lead over @GrenadierDugout Indiana U. Southeast. Ryan Heppner on the mound for the Thunderbirds. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/TJeg9WzFMM / X”

Kaden Zarowny @KadenZarowny hit a three-run HR in the bottom of the 2nd inning to give @ubc_baseball British Columbia a 3-0 lead over @GrenadierDugout Indiana U. Southeast. Ryan Heppner on the mound for the Thunderbirds. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/TJeg9WzFMM

The Thunderbirds will play either Indiana U. Southeast or Oklahoma Wesleyan at 4 PM PDT Wednesday for the championship.

Wayland Baptist 7, Oregon Tech 6 (Oregon Tech eliminated) at Lewiston, ID. The Pioneers hit four home runs, by Delvis Claudio (Vega Alta, Puerto Rico) and Samuel Fabian (Santiago, Dominican Republic) in the first inning, and Brayden Peyton in the sixth inning, but it was the two-run home run by Pioneer pitcher Felix Polanco (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) in the top of the seventh that did the most damage; it provided the winning run for the Pioneers.

The Hustlin’ Owls trailed 7-3 after the Polanco home run, but they got back in it with a two-RBI single by Ka’ala Tam in the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, they loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, an infield single by Korrey Siracusa, and a bunt single by Patrick Barry. However, the next batter, Tyler Horner, hit into a double play. One run scored, making the score 7-6, but the next batter, Julien Jones, hit an infield popup, ending the threat. Tam hit a single with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a fly out and a ground out ended the Owls’ season.

Polanco won his own game. He pitched the first 6 1/3 innings, allowed five runs on ten hits, struck out one, threw 99 pitches. He was relieved by Juan Gil-Franco (Acarguia, Portuguesa, Venezuela), who allowed one run on three hits, struck out two, got a save. Three Owl pitchers allowed only seven hits (the Owls had 13 hits). Starter Carson Glavich got the loss. He gave up two home runs; Alex Rodriguez and Kaden Melzer gave up the other two. Peyton finished 2-for-4. Tam finished 4-for-5 with three RBI. box score

CourtesyRunner 🇲🇽🇨🇦 on X (formerly Twitter): “Wayland Baptist @wbu_baseball pitcher Felix Polanco helped his cause with a 2-run HR in the 7th inning to give the Pioneers a 7-3 lead over @oit_baseball Oregon Tech. They now lead 7-5 in the bottom of the 8th. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/alypCsvWWn / X”

Wayland Baptist @wbu_baseball pitcher Felix Polanco helped his cause with a 2-run HR in the 7th inning to give the Pioneers a 7-3 lead over @oit_baseball Oregon Tech. They now lead 7-5 in the bottom of the 8th. #NAIABall @PNW_CBR pic.twitter.com/alypCsvWWn