Five of the nine slots for the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston, ID were filled today, with Oklahoma City, Cal Baptist, Lee, Belhaven, and Point Loma Nazarene.
#3 Cal Baptist defeated #10 Madonna 11-4 at Riverside, CA. The Crusaders led 4-1 after three innings, but Mike Barro came in as a reliever for the Lancers, and allowed one hit during the last six innings. DH Drew Madrigal batted in the winning run in the fifth inning; he was 2-5 with two RBI for the game. This will be the Lancers’ second trip to the National Championship.
#4 Lee defeated William Jewell 9-6 in Cleveland, TN. The game was tied 6-6 going into the bottom of the sixth; J.J. Costantino hit a triple, then scored on an error to get the winning run for the Flames. This will be Lee’s fourth straight trip to Lewiston. William Jewell is moving to Division II.
#17 Point Loma Nazarene defeated #7 British Columbia 9-3 on a brilliant performance by Chad Blauer. Blauer came one out short of a complete game, allowed only six hits (two of them in the ninth inning), and struck out 16. The Sea Lions are making their second straight trip to Lewiston, and were last years’ runners-up.
#14 Belhaven defeated Texas Wesleyan 4-3 to make their first-ever trip to the National Championship. Timmy Foster hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to win it for the Blazers.
#6 Oklahoma City defeated Northwestern (IA) 9-4 at Oklahoma City.
Mount Marty upset #5 Lubbock Christian 3-2 in Lubbock, TX. Trey Krier of Mount Marty pitched a complete game, held the Chaparrals to nine hits. The Lancers and Chaparrals play one more on Friday.
#8 Embry-Riddle was another upset victim. They were shutout by Saint Thomas 7-0 in Daytona Beach, FL in a rematch of the Sun Conference final. Dane Stone pitched the shutout fore Saint Thomas, scattered eight hits, struck out four. They will play the “if necessary” game on Friday. The Bobcats out-hit the Eagles 15-8.
In Columbus, GA, #24 Tennessee Wesleyan took #9 LSU-Shreveport out of the tournament with a 6-5 win, then defeated #13 Southern Polytechnic 5-4 to force the “if necessary” game on Friday. In the win over LSU-Shreveport win, Rafael Carlot hit a two-RBI triple in the top of the ninth for the win. The same Rafael Carlot hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth to win the game against Southern Polytechnic.
In Joliet, IL, a rematch between #2 Cumberland and #21 Campbellsville has been delayed by rain until Friday morning.
