A 6-0 win over San Diego Christian. He threw 97 pitches. His brother Steve scored the winning run. Story from GSAC site: Jason Karkenny is Pitcher Perfect!

Both Concordia-Irvine and The Master's swept, and Concordia has a one-game lead over The Master's, Vanguard, and Westmont in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Concordia defeated Arizona Christian 9-7, 4-3 (11 innings), and 11-5. The Firestorm led the first game 7-2 with a grand slam home run by DH Cody Rose in the top of the fifth, but the Eagles answered with six runs in the bottom of the fifth, and tied it with a two-run home run by C Neil Lawhorn. The Eagles leaded the bases again, and the winning run was walked in. Isaiah Terrazas got the win in relief. The second game was close all the way. Lawhorn drew a walk with two out in the bottom of the 11^th, and was replaced by courtesy runner Ryan Land, who stole second, went to third on a throwing error, then scored on a passed ball. Starter Colin Orellana went 7 1/3 innings, allowed three runs on for hits. Nick Boyett got the win. The winning run in the third game came on a two-RBI double by RF Robert Shiroky. He got two more RBI with a triple earlier in the game, and had five RBI total. Starter Dillon Moran got the win. The Eagles also got a mid-week non-conference three-hit shutout over Bethesda, 6-0. Robbie Ingram went seven innings, allowed two hits, and RF Robert Shiroky and SS Spencer Nielsen hit home runs. The Eagles visit Biola Feb. 6-7, and La Sierra Feb. 8.

#5 Faulkner opened their season with two wins over LSU-Alexandria, 7-4 and 9-4, and another win over Northwood (FL), 4-2. 1B Jackson Webb hit a three-run home run in the first game; Victor Arche got the win. RF Nick Cain hit a two-run home run in the second game, and SS Edgar Figueroa hit a solo home run, had three RBI. C Cody Sos hit a home run for the winning run in the third game; starter Philip Anderson pitched six scoreless innings, allowed seven hits, struck out six. The Eagles host #8 Georgetown C. Feb. 6-7. Video

#6 Georgia Gwinnett won two of three against Blue Mountain, 19-7, 4-6, and 13-3. 3B Arsenio Watlington, of Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and a transfer from Clarke, went 4-for-5 with a double and seven RBI in his debut with the Grizzlies; he reached base on every turn at bat. He also drew a walk and got hit by a pitch. Story RHP Jose Delmar of Maracaibo, Venezuela got the win in relief for the Toppers in the second game; he pitched the final 4 2/3 innings, allowed no runs on two hits, struck out six. Watlington went 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI in the third game. Sheldon Connor, who allowed no earned runs on six hits and struck out six, got the win. Story The Grizzlies host Talladega Feb. 6-7 (video).

#9 Missouri Baptist swept William Carey, 3-2 (9 innings, scheduled for 7), 9-1, and 11-8. CF Brian Poupore drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth for the winning run in the first game, and Marcus Crescentini struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth for the save. Brandon Zywicki got the win in the second game, pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowed four hits, struck out six. Story 1B Aaron Pangilian went 3-for-6 with five RBI in the third game. The Spartans will play in a tournament at Belhaven against #1 Cumberland, #12 Belhaven, and Culver-Stockton Feb. 5-7. Cumberland plays Culver-Stockton on the 6^th, and Belhaven on the 7^th. (video).

#2 Lewis-Clark State opens their season in a tournament at Concordia-Portland Feb. 6-8. Updated Feb. 5: The entire tournament was moved to Caldwell and Nampa, ID due to bad weather on the Pacific Northwest Coast. L-C State plays Division II Northwest Nazarene and Concordia-Portland on the 6th, #24 British Columbia on the 7th, and C. of Idaho on the 8th. #24 British Columbia plays Northwest Nazarene on the 6th, C. of Idaho on the 7th, and Concordia on the 8th. (video) The Warriors then go on a California tour, starting at San Diego Christian on Feb. 10.

#3 Oklahoma Wesleyan opens their season at Lyon Feb. 5-7. (video) #4 Oklahoma Baptist opens at home against York Feb. 6-7.

The North won the sixth annual Sun Conference All-Star Game 14-10. The offensive standouts for the south were 3B Eric Santamaria of Saint Thomas and C Carlos Contreras of Northwood (FL). Both went 3-for-3; Santamaria had three RBI, and Contreras had two. For the North, Dylan Heiring of Warner and RHP Sean Stanislawski of Webber International both struck out all three batters they faced. (All of the pitchers in the game pitched one inning.) Story

Conference play has already started in the Golden State Athletic Conference, with all eight teams in action. And, the two teams predicted to be the best in the conference, Concordia-Irvine and The Master's, played each other, at Irvine. Concordia won the first two games, 7-5 and 10-0, and The Master's won the third, 4-2. 1B Daniel Shine singled in the winning run in the first game. He also stole a base, and scored two runs. Story He went 2-4 with four RBI in the second game. Colin Orellana and Garrett Kraemer combined for the shutout; Kraemer allowed only two hits over the last four innings. In the third game, CF-RHP Steve Karkenny picked up from where he left off last year. He drew a walk and scored the winning run (on a double by 1B Collin Nyenhuis) in the top of the sixth, then moved to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, retired all five batters he faced, and got a save. Nyenhuis went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, and two RBI. Story

Concordia hosts Arizona Christian Jan. 30-31 (video) and The Master's hosts Biola Jan. 30-31 (video). #5 Faulkner opens their season hosting LSU-Alexandria Jan. 30-31, and Northwood (FL) Jan. 31-Feb. 1. #6 Georgia Gwinnett host Blue Mountain Jan. 31-Feb. 1 (video). #9 Missouri Baptist visits William Carey Jan. 30; the Spartans were ranked #1 by Perfect Game (click here for their rankings).

Industriales built up a 5-0 lead over the first five innings, let it get away in the top of the sixth, then put it away with a big bottom of the seventh, in a game characterized by sloppy pitching.

Industriales open the scoring with a double by RF Dairon Blanco and an RBI single by CF Carlos Alberto before the first out was recorded in the bottom of the first. Alberto moved from first to third on a passed ball that C Franklin Aballe had trouble finding, then scored on a sacrifice fly by SS Lourdes Gourriel. They added a home run by 1B Alexander Malleta in the third. In the bottom of the fifth, Industriales benefited from two walks with two out by Holguin starter LHP Lander Moreira. Moreira was replaced by Maikel Sainz, who proceed to hit the first batter he faced, loading the bases. The next batter, DH Lisban Correa, hit a two-RBI single, and Industriales led 5-0. Sainz was replaced by Carlos A. Leon after facing only two batters.

A near-capacity crowd at Estadio Màrtires de Barbados in Bayamo got to see an excellent ball game.

Pinar del Rio was in control of this game for the first eight innings. They got two runs in the top of the first on an RBI double by DH Donal Duarte, and an RBI single by  1B Ramon Lunar. They added a run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by 3B Osniel Madera.

It looked for a long time like these three runs would be enough. Pinar del Rio got an excellent start from Erlis Casanova, who held Granma scoreless for five innings. Both he and reliever Livan Moinelo got some key strikeouts, and were also helped by double plays in the bottom of the first and fifth innings, a strikeout followed by a throw-out at second to end the second inning, and a good play by SS Yanciel Ajete to end the fourth inning with two runners left on base. Granma started the sixth inning with a base hit by SS Adrian Moreno, and Casanova turned the ball over to Moinelo. A long at-bat by LF Guillermo Jose Aviles resulted in a ground ball and Moreno out at second.

My first visit to a baseball game in Cuba was stopped by the mercy rule (“regla chili” in Spanish) after 6 1/2 innings.

Granma loaded the bases in each of the first three innings. In the first inning, they got a run on an RBI double by 1B Guillermo Jose, a two-RBI double by RF Urmani Guerra, and another RBI double by 3B Lazaro Alfredo. They left the bases loaded in the second inning, but in the third inning, they loaded the bases on singles by Guerrai and C Yulexis La Rosa, and an intentional walk, then SS Adrian Moreno hit a grand slam. It was 8-0 after three innings. Granma made it 12-0 in the fifth, with a sacrifice fly by Jose, a two-RBI single by 1B Yordanis Samon, and an RBI single by Guerra.

Granma starter Lazaro Blanco had a shutout with two out in the bottom of the sixth. He should have gotten out of the inning with a double play, but a suspect call at first kept the inning going. On the next play, the shortstop lost the handle on a routine ground ball. DH Alberto Toledo ended the shutout with an RBI single, and RF Lazaro D. Perez hit a shallow single that scored another run. Blanco left the game after that with six hits (three of them in the sixth inning, and two more by CF Robersis Ramos), zero earned runs, and 3 strikeouts.

Defending champion Cumberland starts the 2015 season ranked #1.

First place votes: Cumberland 19, Oklahoma Wesleyan 1

Northwood (FL) C Carlos Contreras and British Columbia LHP Conor Lillis-White are the headliners of the 2015 NAIA Preseason All-America Team.

Contreras transfered from Northwood (TX), which shut down their athletic program. He hit .453 there, with a slugging percentage of .753, fourth-highest in the NAIA.

Lillis-White had the lowest ERA in the NAIA last season, 0.46. He is already 2-0, 0.82 ERA this season.

The Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) of Mexico City and the Rieleros (Railroaders) of Aguascalientes split a double header (two seven-inning games) before a good crowd in Aguascalientes.

First game: This was a good one. The Diablos led the game until the bottom of the seventh. RF Doug Clark got the Diablos on the board with a two-run home run in top of the first inning. They added two more runs in the second inning. LF Ivan Terrazas hit a single, and C Gabriel Gutierrez hit a double. Terrazas scored when SS Juan Carlos Gamboa reached on a fielder's choice.

CF Rubén Rivera made a good catch in center field on a ball hit by 1B Japhet Amador in the top of the third inning. The Rieleros got two runs in the bottom of the third. RF Carlos Peñuelas hit a leadoff single, and scored on a double by LF Oscar Lemus. 2B Ivan Bellazetin hit a bunt single, moving Lemus to third. Lemus scored on a single by 3B Jesse Castillo. The Rieleros added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Peñuelas hit a slash bunt to score Rivera, who had reached on a single. So, the Diablos led 4-3 after four innings.

The Diablos Rojos (Red Devils) of Mexico City lead the North Division of the Mexican League by nine games, with a 62-35 record going into this game. The Rieleros (Railroaders) of Aguascalientes are in seventh place in the North Division, with a 44-52 record, and they will miss the playoffs. Tonight, however, belonged to the Rieleros.

The Diablos took the early lead in the top of the second, with a solo home run by 3B Emmanuel Ávila, and an RBI single by CF Carlos Figueroa. Figueroa bounced a line drive off Rieleros starter RHP Oswaldo Pacheco. (Pacheco got in the way of another line drive in the sixth inning, but was able to recover, pick up the ball, and get the out at first.)

The Rieleros answered with a solo home run by CF Rubén Rivera in the bottom of the second. It was his 20th HR of the season. C Oscar Lemus hit a ground rule double with two out, but a strikeout by Diablos starter LHP Marion Arias ended the inning.

Rivera made a good play in center field in the top of the third, taking away a home run from 1B Japhet Amador. The Rieleros tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by SS Carlos Orrantia. Orrantia went to third on a wild pitch, then scored to put the Rieleros ahead for good on a fielder's choice by 3B Jesse Castillo.