Brent Weaver
Results from the second day of the first-ever NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, for May 13:
At Lubbock, TX:
#1 Lubbock Christian defeated #18 Wayland Baptist 14-11. The Chaparrals led 11-5 after four innings, but the Pioneers were able to chip away at this lead the rest of the way. Tanner Rindels went 3-4 with two home runs and five RBI for the Chaparrals. R.L. Eisenbach got the win, despite giving up 14 hits over 7 2/3 innings; he struck out 12.
William Jewell recovered from their drubbing by the Chaparrals on Tuesday to defeat Houston-Victoria 4-3. William Jewell will play Wayland Baptist in Thursday’s elimination game.
At Oklahoma City, OK:
#2 Oklahoma City scored four runs in the top of the tenth inning to defeat #19 LSU-Shreveport 14-10. The winning run came on a two-RBI double by Jason Machado. Brent Weaver hit his 37th home run of the season for the Stars, setting a new NAIA record.
Ryan Pilgrim of British Columbia tagged out at home by Point Loma Nazarene catcher Chris Winslow
Ryan Pilgrim of British Columbia tagged out at home by Point Loma Nazarene catcher Chris Winslow
At Azusa, CA:
#3 Point Loma Nazarene defeated #12 British Columbia 7-2. The Sea Lions out-hit the Thunderbirds 14-8, and Sea Lions starter Chris Honer went eight innings, struck out eight. The Thunderbirds’ runs came on a two-run home run by Scott Webster.
The Thunderbirds will play host Azusa Pacific in Thursday’s elimination game. Azusa Pacific avoided elimination by defeating #20 Biola 9-8 on a bottom of the ninth home run by Ryan Delgado.
At Cleveland, TN:
Belhaven’s streak of upsets ended with a 7-4 loss to #10 Lee. The Flames won it with four runs in the fifth inning, on an RBI double by Tanner Moore, a sacrifice fly by Chris Warters, and RBI singles by Julian Alvarez and Elvis Sosa.
The Blazers play #9 Tennessee Wesleyan in the elimination game on Thursday.
At Mount Berry, GA:
#4 Berry got nine runs in the second inning, and defeated #24 Saint Xavier 17-12. Jacob Lamar, Andrew Starr, Patrick Taylor, and Mitch Terry hit home runs for the Vikings. Starr was 2-3, and Blake Reynolds was 4-5.
At Daytona Beach, FL:
#6 Embry-Riddle defeated #14 Union (KY) 8-7. The Eagles were out-hit 14-4, but took advantage of ten walks and two hit batters. The Bulldogs scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it a one-run ball game, but reliever Aaron Varnum got a double play to get out of the inning, then pitched a three-up, three-down bottom of the ninth to collect a save.
The Bulldogs will play Auburn-Montgomery in Thursday’s elimination game.
At Sioux City, IA:
#11 Bellevue defeated #16 Madonna 18-4. The Bruins out-hit Madonna 23-10.
#13 Fresno Pacific defeated Jamestown 14-5. Fresno Pacific and Madonna will play an elimination game on Thursday.
David Harden
David Harden
At Hattiesburg, MS:
#5 Southern Polytechnic defeated Cumberland 6-2 in a first-round game postponed from yesterday. They then defeated #22 Savannah College of Art and Design 3-0. David Harden got the shutout for the Hornets, held the Bees to five hits, struck out 13.
At Saint Charles, MO:
Kansas Wesleyan pulled off the biggest upset of the sectional tournaments so far, defeating #8 Campbellsville 5-4. Coyotes starter Dale Harder went 8 2/3 innings, allowed ten hits, struck out 11. Alex Hall batted in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
Campbellsville will play Lindenwood in an elimination game on Thursday.
