Game Accounts

The NAIA Coaches' poll for April 30, with Boyd Nation's ISR ranking. Recap below the fold.

First-place votes: Oklahoma City 13, Faulkner 5, Northwood (TX) 1
Westmont is #1 in Strength of Schedule

#1 Oklahoma City (#38 in SoS) won their third straight Sooner Athletic Conference pennant, winning three of four against Rogers State, 4-6, 7-1, 3-1, and 6-3. The Hillcats got three runs in the bottom of the sixth to win the first game; DH Brandon Bargas bunted a run in, C Emmanuel de la Cruz hit an RBI single, and 2B Hector Rivera drew a walk to bring in a run. Shawn Spainhoward went the seven-inning distance for the Hillcats, allowed eight hits. Cody Crabaugh and Ricky Spain combined for a one-hitter in the second game; Crabaugh allowed the hit and the run, struck out five. 3B Chris Muñoz scored the winning run on an error, went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored (story). Shane Henderson went the seven-inning distance in the third game, allowed three hits, struck out nine. RF Jonathan Rodriguez and 1B Forrest Smith hit home runs. The Stars got all the runs they needed in the first inning of the fourth game; Smith hit a two-RBI single for the winning run. Ryan Gibson got the win, pitched five innings, struck out ten (story).

Crabaugh is 12-1, 2.07 ERA. He is tied for second (with Jarrod Jameson of Tennessee Wesleyan) in the NAIA in wins. The Stars are hosting (with Oklahoma Baptist) the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament. The first part of the tournament is round-robin, and the Stars play Mid-America Christian May 1, Rogers State May 2, and Science and Arts of Oklahoma May 3. The tournament final is May 4 (live video for a price).

#2 Faulkner won the Southern States Athletic Conference pennant by sweeping Auburn-Montgomery, 13-2, 8-4, and 8-4. Johnny Shuttlesworth got the win in the first game, allowed five hits and struck out five in five innings. 3B Sergio Sanchez went 3-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored (story). Sanchez' hot streak continued into the next day. He went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the second game, and 3-for-5 with two RBI in the third game. Will Dismukes got the win in the second game, went 6 1/3 innings, allowed three hits. The third game was close; it was tied 4-4 after seven innings, but the Eagles got a sacrifice fly by RF Esteban Paula in the top of the eighth for the winning run, then added three more runs in the ninth. Brad Griffis got the win in relief, allowed no runs and one hit over 2 2/3 innings (story).

Shuttlesworth is 11-1, 1.23 ERA. Dismukes is 10-1, 2.29 ERA, with 81 strikeouts. Shuttlesworth is tied for fourth in the NAIA in wins, and seventh in the NAIA in ERA. Dismukes is tied with eight pitchers, including A.J. Work of The Master's, for sixth place in wins.

The Southern States Athletic Conference tournament started April 30 in Columbus, GA. The first part of the tournament is round-robin, and the Eagles play Auburn-Montgomery again April 30, Southern Polytechnic May 1, and Belhaven May 2. The championship game, where there is a possibility for the Eagles and #3 Lee to face each other for the first time this season, is scheduled for May 4.

#3 Lee swept Truett-McConnell, 12-1, 11-5, and 15-0. 3B Brandon Rader, LF Cameron Brewster, RF Derrick Pitts, and DH Corey Davis hit home runs in the first game. Myles Smith got the win, went seven innings, allowed one run on four hits, struck out six (story). Rader went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in the second game; four Flames pitchers combined to hold Truett-McConnell to four hits. Davis went 3-for-6 with a grand slam home run, a double, and five RBI in the third game; Jeremy Stawychny got the win (story).

The Flames are in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament, and play Brewton-Parker April 30, Mobile May 2, and William Carey May 3 (live audio).

#4 Northwood (TX) won their first-round game in the Red River Athletic Conference tournament 8-6 against Texas College. They needed a sacrifice fly by RF Joee Reyna in the top of the eighth to win it. Colton Reavis got the win; he pitched two innings, and struck out five of the eight batters he faced. The Knights lost to LSU-Shreveport 8-2 in the second round; Cade Bowen of the Pilots held the Knights to five hits over 7 2/3 innings. The Pilots took over the game with six runs in the top of the third inning, completed by a two-RBI single by 2B Parker Hebert (story).

The Knights then got a 12-3 win over Jarvis Christian, but they were taken out of the tournament in a 9-5 loss to Texas Wesleyan. Texas Wesleyan and LSU-Shreveport are playing for the tournament championship.

#5 Lubbock Christian won three of four against Wayland Baptist, 15-8, 3-7, 20-16, and 10-0. Ten of the runs in the first game came with two out. 1B Brandon Wilson went 5-for-5 with a home run and four RBI; he tied the school record for most hits in a game. Dalton Silva got the win in relief; he held the Pioneers to one run on three hits over the final four innings, struck out six (story). Ryan Downs got a complete seven-inning game win for the Pioneers in the second game, allowed six hits, struck out five. CF Johnny Hendrixon hit a two-run home run to win it. The Chaparrals tied another school record in the third game by hitting nine home runs; LF Brett Kauten and 3B Joel Lutz each hit three of them. Kauten, a transfer from Kansas State, also hit a triple, and one of his home runs was a grand slam; he went 4-for-5 with nine RBI (story). The fourth game was a scoreless tie until the seventh inning. The Chaparrals scored all ten of their runs in the bottom of the seventh to end the game with the mercy rule. In that disastrous half-inning, the Pioneers committed two errors, walked four batters, and hit another; the Chaparrals needed only four hits to score the ten runs, and there were no outs when the game ended. Kyle Forsyth pitched the shutout, scattered six hits, struck out four (story).

Lutz has 60 RBI, fifth-best in the NAIA. Kauten leads the NAIA with 17 home runs, and Lutz is tied for second with 15. Kauten was selected NAIA Player of the Week. The Chaparrals are playing in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament at Oklahoma Baptist, and play Saint Gregory's May 1, Wayland Baptist May 2, and Oklahoma Baptist May 3 (live audio).

#6 Embry-Riddle swept three games at Thomas (GA), 6-3, 2-1, and 3-2 (11 innings). CF Kyle Chastain went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the first game; Stetson Nelson got the win (story). The Eagles got all their runs in the second game on a two-run home run by RF Kevin Lindheim in the first inning. The Night Hawks got one back in the bottom of the eighth, and had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the result of three walks by Eric Green. However, Green struck out the next two batters to end it. Kevin Maloney got the win, to run his record to 9-1, 2.49 ERA. He went eight innings, allowed three hits, struck out nine. Green faced six batters, walked three of them, struck out the other three. Lindheim got three of the Eagles' five hits. In the third game, Lindheim scored in the top of the eighth when the Night Hawks didn't complete a double play, to tie the game and send it into extra innings. SS Jordan Romero hit an RBI single in the top of the eleventh to win it. Ronnie Lozada pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings for the win, struck out four (story).

The Sun Conference tournament is under way in Fort Myers, FL. The Eagles lost 2-0 (11 innings) to South Carolina-Beaufort in the first round. Stetson Nelson pitched ten shutout innings for the Eagles, allowed seven hits. Myles Galvin, Andrew Barrineau, and Kyle McCullough combined for the shutout for the Sand Sharks, held the Eagles to six hits. DH Ryan Walker hit an RBI single for the winning run (story). The Eagles play Ave Maria in a loser-out game May 1. The Sand Sharks will play the loser of the Saint Thomas/Webber International game.

#7 The Master's (ISR #1, and #7 in SoS) swept Westmont (ISR #15), 7-1, 5-1, and 10-0, and won their first Golden State Athletic Conference pennant since 2003. A.J. Work went the distance in the first game, allowed one run on nine hits. SS Jonathan Popadics hit an RBI double for the winning run (story). The second game was decided by three unearned runs on the fifth inning; Tyler Elrod got the win. Four Mustangs pitchers combined for the shutout in the third game, allowed five hits. The Mustangs got five runs in the first inning; LF Steve Karkenny singled in the winning run (story).

The Mustangs are hosting the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament. Their first game is against Arizona Christian May 2 (high-quality live video).

#8 Tennessee Wesleyan swept two games at Virginia Intermont, 2-1 and 11-1; a third scheduled game was canceled due to bad weather. The Bulldogs were out-hit by the Cobras 5-4 in the first game, but the Bulldogs got an RBI double by RF Trey Griffin and an RBI single by SS Wes Minton in the sixth inning to win it. Justin Sprenger got the win in relief, struck out two of the four batters he faced. 1B Jake Stone went 2-for-2 with a triple, a double, and three RBI in the second game. Jarrod Jameson got the win, pitched four shutout innings, allowed three hits, struck out five (story).

The Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament is under way in Kingsport, TN. The Bulldogs play Montreat in the first round. The Cobras won their first-round game against Saint Andrews 7-1.

Jameson is 12-0, 2.61 ERA, with 57 strikeouts, and his twelve wins puts him in a tie for second in the NAIA.

#9 Bellevue won the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference pennant by sweeping four games against C. of the Ozarks, 10-7, 22-4, 4-1, and 5-0. The Bruins took over the first game with eight runs in the bottom of the third inning. DH Kyle Kinman got it started with a two-RBI single, and the Bruins helped their cause with three stolen bases. Robert Greco got the win, went eight innings, allowed one unearned run on two hits, struck out ten. LF Tenner Moore went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, and four RBI in the second game (story). Kody McFarland got the win in the third game, went seven innings, allowed one run on four hits, struck out 11. 1B Brian Embery hit an RBI double for the winning run. 3B Nate Mullins went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Ricky Holm went the seven-inning distance for the shutout in the fourth game, allowed three hits, struck out nine. Embery hit a two-run home run (story).

The Bruins finished their regular season with a 4-1 win over Briar Cliff; Embery batted in three runs, Taylor Stark got the win (story).

The Bruins are hosting the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference May 2-4. They will play Central Baptist in the first round (live audio). #11 York will play Oklahoma Wesleyan in the first round.

#10 Lewis-Clark State split four games against British Columbia (ISR #17), 1-16, 12-2, 3-4, 12-9, and won their second straight NAIA West pennant. The Thunderbirds had 23 hits in the first game. RF Jerod Bartnik hit two home runs, batted in five runs. C Brody Hawkins went 5-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI. The Thunderbirds had a shutout going into the eighth inning; Sean Callegari went seven innings, allowed four hits, struck out six, didn't walk a batter. The Warriors got six runs in the third inning of the second game, led by a two-RBI single by DH Kyle Blackwell and a two-RBI double by 3B Jacob Cano. Sal Arena got the win in relief (story). RHP Bryan Pawlina got the win for the Thunderbirds in the third game, went five innings, allowed one run on six hits, struck out three. Pawlina, a true freshman studying rocket science, has quietly accumulated a record of 9-0, 1.94 ERA (story). The Birds scored all their runs in the fourth inning; a three-RBI double by SS Tyson Popoff, and an RBI single by 1B Jeremy Kral. The Warriors out-hit the Birds 12-6, but they left 13 runners on base, and left the bases loaded three times, including the bottom of the ninth (story). The Thunderbirds led the fourth game 7-2 after five innings, but the Warriors came up with three runs in the sixth inning, and seven runs in the seventh. Switch-hitting SS Bobby Joe Tannehill hit home runs from both sides of the plate, batted in five runs. Colton Wright got the win in relief (story).

Steiger is third in hitting in the NAIA with an average of .435. The Warriors finish their regular season by hosting a tournament of Division III teams May 4-5. The guests are Pacific Lutheran, Linfield, and Whitworth, and Linfield is ranked #1 in Division III (live audio).

The Thunderbirds are the top seed in the NAIA West tournament in Portland, OR. Their first game is against either Concordia-Portland on May 1 (live video for the entire tournament).