Andrew Bovich
Results from Day 1 of the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID:
Lee 5, Campbellsville 2
The Flames got a two-run home run by 1B Chris Warters in the top of the first inning, and the winning run on a solo home run by C Chris Dubon in the top of the second. DH Junior Rodriguez added a solo home run in the fourth, and RF Julian Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
Flames starter Matthew Gilson went 6 2/3 innings, allowed two runs (one of them walked in) on seven hits, struck out five, and walked four. Reliever Josh Rose retired all seven batters he faced, and struck out four of them.
C Jimmy Voelker hit a home run for the Tigers. Rob Elliott, who went the distance for the Tigers, got the loss. He allowed nine hits, struck out seven, walked only one.
Berry 10, Southern Polytechnic 5
The Vikings record the first upset of the tournament with a three-run home run by RF Eric Weiss in the fifth inning, and an RBI double by C Patrick Taylor in the sixth inning. Chris Rearick got the win for the Vikings, Sean Teague got the loss for the Hornets. SS Jono Waugh hit a three-run home run for the Hornets.
Point Loma Nazarene 10, Embry-Riddle 0
The Sea Lions opened the tournament with a statement from CF Kurt Steinhauer and Andrew Bovich. The game was ended with the mercy rule after eight innings. Bovich went the distance, got the shutout, allowed only four hits, walked four, struck out three, threw 104 pitches. Steinhauer hit two home runs, got five RBI.
Justin Zinkovich, who came into the tournament with a 13-0 record, got his first loss of the season. Bovich is now 13-0, 1.50 ERA. This game took only 2:05 to play.
Lewis-Clark State 5, Fresno Pacific 0
The Warriors began their defense of the national championship title the same way they began last year’s tournament, with a shutout.
This was a well-played game by both teams, no errors and lots of good defensive plays, and was closer than the score would indicate. The Warriors took the lead in the second inning, and the winning run came on an RBI single by SS Todd Muecklisch. They got two more in an RBI double by 1B Matt Allen. The score stayed 3-0 until the eighth inning, when DH Bernard Pena hit a two-run home run.
The Sunbirds stranded eight baserunners. They got runners as far as third in the second and third inning. Warriors starter Colby Hawk went 7 1/3 innings, scattered six hits, walked three, struck out seven, and threw 112 pitches. Nick Masters went the rest of the way, allowed one hit, and struck out three of the six batters that he faced.
Muecklisch finished the game 3-4 with one RBI. Kelyn Schellenberg, who allowed ten hits, got the loss for the Sunbirds. 1B Anthony Lowell went 4-4 for the Sunbirds, and C Jared Coleman went 3-3.
Schedule for Saturday, May 23 (all times PDT):
8:30 AM: Campbellsville vs. Southern Polytechnic (loser out)
noon: Embry-Riddle vs. Fresno Pacific (loser out)
3 PM: Lee vs. #1 seed Lubbock Christian
7 PM: Lewis-Clark State vs. #2 seed Oklahoma City
All games are webcast by KOZE Radio (audio and free) and watchnaia.com (video and $6.95/game, or $23.95 for the series). Live stats are available for all games at Dakstats. Bret Beachner is doing live blogging from Lewiston.
