Down to Four: TWU Keeps Season Going, Faces No. 1 Southeastern

LEWISTON, Idaho – [BRACKET | SCHEDULE] And then there were four! The 65th Annual Avista-NAIA World Series played two elimination games followed by the matchup of undefeated teams at Harris Field Tuesday. Of the 10 teams that began the 2022 double-elimination tournament, the top four seeds remain - with Southeastern (Fla.) being the lone team to not yet suffer a loss. 

WEDNESDAY GAME SCHEDULE

[Game 16] 3:05 p.m. PST - No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) vs. No. 4 LSU-Shreveport (La.) (elimination)

[Game 17] 6:30 p.m. PST - No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) vs. No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan (56-7) def. No. 10 Webber International (43-22), 9-1

• The first elimination contest of the day saw a pair of teams that we matched up by the tournament committee because they had not yet played each other in the World Series
• On paper, the Bulldogs had a games played advantage since the No. 2 seed had a bye which 10^th seeded Webber International did not; this resulted in the Warriors playing four games compared to three for TWU
• Both teams began the game with the first three batters on each side getting out with a combined three strikeouts swinging
• Parker Stinnett ripped a double to left center field before a fielding error by TWU gave the Eagles runners on first and second with no outs away in the frame
• A sacrifice bunt moved the runners over which allowed the first run of the day was plated by Chad Picton's single through the gap
• Tennessee Wesleyan snagged a 2-0 lead by the end of the inning as a groundout by Dan Sayre scored Kyle Lavender
• In the next trip to the box, Carson Ford nuked his first homer of the World Series and 14^th of the year, giving TWU a 3-0 lead on three total hits
• Two batters later, Livan Reinoso, took the fourth pitch he face and launched it off the bat to left field; both teams and the crowd knew its destiny was over the outfield fence by the sound alone
• Webber International had a chance in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap as the bases were juiced with two outs away
• Michael Taylor preserved the Bulldogs' 4-0 advantage as he ended the inning with a fly out to center
• Once again in the next inning, WIU had two runners within scoring position but was unable to push either of them across the plate to cut into the deficit
• For the second time in the game, the Warriors were able to get a clean sweep in the top of the sixth, this time by relief pitcher Dawson Young
• Ian Kalman began the bottom of the frame drawing a walk and was brought home by Josh Blackmore dropping a single in front of Jermane Ward in center field
• Having previously used extra pitchers in the previous extra game played, the Warriors were deep into the bullpen by the eighth inning
• Tennessee Wesleyan went through the full order in the inning starting with a pinch hitter in Cayle Webster's slot in the lineup and ending with him striking out
• In between, the Bulldogs doubled up their lead scoring four runs on four hits, four walks, three wild pitches and one defensive error by WIU
• After using three pitchers in the eighth inning, the fifth Warrior took the mound in the game allowing one final Bulldog run
• In the box, TWU was passed by Braxton Turner, Reinoso, and Stinnett who recorded nine of the team's 11 hits
• Webber International was paced offensively by Blackmore who was 2-4 with the other six hits all coming from different Warriors
• Tennessee Wesleyan elected a bullpen by committee contest with Michael Taylor throwing four scoreless innings, Kyle Bloor and Trent Thrash taking two each, and third baseman Reinoso closing out the ninth inning
• The loss ends the best campaign in WIU program history, besting the 39-17 record in 2017 when they were eliminated in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round by Georgia Gwinnett

No. 4 LSU Shreveport (La.) (53-7) def. No. 7 Faulkner (Ala.) (39-17), 3-2

• With two outs, Allbry Major was the first player to step on the base paths; A single and stolen base by Carlos Pineyro gave LSUS two runners in scoring position, but they were unable to bring them home
• In the second inning, the Shreveport once again had a drawn walk and a single but ended the frame with the scoreboard still showing zeros
• Two Pilots were hit by pitches in the third but the contest was still without a run scored
• Kevin Miranda was given the ball for the Pilots and steered them to perfect through the first three innings, retiring all nine batters while recording six strikeouts
• Nathan Beyer ripped a ball to right field which scored Cameron Lewis from third base who was pinch-running for Josh Wunnenberg after his single to left
• In the fourth inning, Sammy De La Cruz got the first hit for the Eagles but they would not score until the next trip to the plate
• J Lucas kicked things off with an opening walk and was swiftly brought home by a right line triple from Evan Gilliam; T Reyes-Cru singled through the right side to give Faulkner its first lead in two games on Harris Field
• Miranda was able to prevent more damage by ending the inning on a double play, after which he would exit the contest having pitched five innings allowing two runs and striking out 10 batters
• In the next inning of defense, Gilliam leaped into the center-field wall and snagged the deep fly ball of Beyer, but the sacrifice fly brought home Pineyro who tied the game at 2-2
• LSUS preserved the tied contest with an incredible, twirling fielding play by third basemen Julian Flores – the final out of the sixth
• Pilot relief pitcher Josh Fortenberry got LSUS out of the jam after he inherited two baserunners who were walked by the previous player manning the bump
• Initially, Faulkner kept the score tied at two each, thanks in part to a 463 double play turned by De La Cruz and Shawn Ross, but Trevor Burkhardt crushed a 2-0 count fastball into left field
• Fortenberry was tasked with getting the final three outs of the game, but a single and a balk later saw him hand the ball off to an unlikely player
• Center fielder Allbry Majors, who had made his imprint of the tournament with his three home runs, took on the pressure of closing out the game after only pitching 1/3 of an inning in the entire season
• Just 90-feet away stood the tying run with two outs gone thanks to a pop up to the catcher and a strikeout; despite hitting the next batter, Majors put the game on ice with his third strikeout of the year
• The star offensively for the Pilot going 2-3 with two RBI; for the Eagles, it was Gilliam going 2-4 with a scored run and an RBI

No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) (57-3) def. No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (56-6), 9-5

• Brian Fuentes controlled a two-out pitch to the shortstop followed by Gary Lora's single down the right-field line; Sam Faith hit an RBI single
• After a walk was issued to Isaac Nunez which loaded the bases, LCSC pitcher Eric Chavarria escaped the inning with a fly out to center field
• Copying what SEU did in the top half of the inning, the Warriors juiced the bags by way of a hit, walk, and fielding error
• Three straight outs from Bryce Moyle ended the inning and kept the Fire leading 1-0
• Next time to the plate, Jose Marcano started things off with a double down the left-field line, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then score on Abdel Guadalupe's single up the middle
• After originally being awarded a double down the left-field line, the umpires ruled it a foul ball; fortunately for the Fire, he came back to the plate and hit a homer instead
• Lewis-Clark State pulled their starter in the top of third with two outs and the move was golden as the new pitcher, Drake Borschowa, recorded a line out on his first pitch, stranding two runners
• After getting out of the inning with only one run added, Riley Way put the Warriors on his back and fired off a solo bomb to right field in the bottom of the third
• SEU had two runners in scoring position in the fourth but was unable to advance them any further
• Moyle started off by awarding two free bases which enabled LC to move them both over on a sacrifice bunt by A.J. Davis before scoring Coy Stout on a RBI groundout and Nick Seamons sliding home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3
• The lead didn't last long as Stephen Cullen launched a two-run bomb 365 feet over the center-field batter's eye for a 5-3 score
• Consecutive singles by Luke White and Sam Linscott, followed by Justin Mazzone being hit by the pitch loaded the bases; Moyle was not phased and coolly struck out the next batter before ending the inning on a groundout to short
• During the sixth, Nunez launched a three-run shot to center field which brought the Fire lead to 8-3; while the top of the seventh saw another SEU tally be added on Broyles sacrifice fly
• Moyle's night came to an end once he allowed a double and then two walks, all with no outs recorded in the frame
• Reliever Stull faced only one batter, in which he walked a run in to bring it to a 9-4 count
• The third pitcher used in the inning was Ronnie Voacolo who shut down the Warrior offense with three straight force outs
• Lucas Gregory took over control of the mound in the top of the eighth and rewarded head coach Jake Taylor's trust with a clean inning
• In the Warriors' last gasp, White and Way stood on the corners but Mazzone ended the inning with a center field fly out
• LCSC added a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning