Game Accounts

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for March 29, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Oklahoma City 17, Lee 2, Embry-Riddle 2

Oklahoma City ( #1) has their 23-game winning streak broken by Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State, 18-12; the Stars led the game 10-2 at one point. They started a new streak against Hastings, defeating them 20-2. They swept three games against Saint Gregory's, 8-0, 24-2, and 9-0. Cory Theriot and Steve Styck combined for the first shutout, Rich Hawkins and Cody Crabaugh combined for the second one. 1B Miguel Beltran put on a show in the second game; three home runs, two of them grand slams, 4-5 with 13 RBI.

The Stars are 27-3, 16-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Next up is Oklahoma Baptist (#4), second in the SAC with an 11-1 record. They play in Oklahoma City March 31, and at Oklahoma Baptist April 1.

Lee (#2) swept two games against Reinhardt, 10-0 and 12-3; James Rechenbach and Kris Hall combined for the mercy-rule-shortened shutout. The Flames then swept three games against Loyola-New Orleans, 7-3, 11-3, and 4-1. In the first game, Shay Crawford, a transfer from Alabama-Birmingham, record 14 strikeouts in seven innings. Maxx Catapano and Curtis Camilli got the wins in the other two games. Next up for the Flames is Shorter April 1-2. Later, they host #25 Tennessee Wesleyan April 6 and visit #5 Brewton-Parker April 8-9.

Embry-Riddle (#3) got a second mid-week win over Cumberland (#17) 11-9. The defending champions got three runs in the bottom of the ninth to make it close, and the Eagles had to send in Tucker Jensen with two outs; Jensen got a strikeout to finish it. Ryan Vigue got his eighth win. The Eagles then swept three games at home against Saint Thomas, 7-1, 4-1, and 4-3.

The Eagles are 29-7, and lead The Sun Conference with a 19-2 record. They visit Northwood (FL) April 1-2. They have an exhibition game against the Class A Daytona Cubs April 6.

Brewton-Parker (#5) defeated Thomas U. (GA) 18-12 in mid-week; 3B Michael Pleau went 3-5 with six RBI, a double, and a home run. The Barons then swept Emmanuel 8-3, 12-1, and 4-2. Daniel Jones pitched a complete game in the first win, Drew Parker and Daniel Miller got the other two wins. Errick Fox's batting average dropped to .478, still good for ninth in the NAIA. The 23-7 Barons visit Truett-McConnell April 1-2.

Fresno Pacific (#6) split four games with Point Loma Nazarene, winning 6-1, 6-1 in Fresno, and losing 8-6 and 2-1 in San Diego. Jesse Darrah and Matt Mazzoni got the wins in the first two sets. Darrah went the nine-inning distance, held the Sea Lions to three hits. Mazzoni went 7 2/3 innings, allowed three hits. RF Trent Soares batted in the winning run in the first game, and a squeeze bunt by SS Alex Mehrten brought in 2B Andrew Douglas for the winning run in the second game. Jack Archie got the win for the Sea Lions in the third game, and Kenny Houser got the win in the fourth game. Houser went the seven-inning distance, held the Sunbirds to four hits, struck out six.

The 19-11 Sunbirds visit Azusa Pacific (ISR #25) Wednesday and Thursday, and host Azusa Pacific April 2. They will play an exhibition game against the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies on April 5.

Biola (#19) continues to lead the Golden State Athletic Conference with an 11-4 record. The Sunbirds and Cal Baptist are tied for second place with 13-7 records.

Union U. (TN) (#7) swept Bethel (TN) 2-1 (13 innings), 4-1, and 3-2 (nine innings). Both starters in the first game, Jeremy Stack for the Bulldogs and Joey Wilder for the Wildcats, went ten innings; Stack allowed only three hits. 1B Kevin Kirksey scored the winning run on a wild pitch, and Matt Fike got the win. (Fike got the win in the third game as well.) Jared Davis got the win in the second game, allowed three hits. 2B R.J. Rayborn batted in Kirksey for the winning run in the third game. Coming up for the Bulldogs is Cumberland (#17) April 1-2.

LSU-Shreveport (#8) swept three games from Huston-Tillotson, 14-4, 18-1, and 12-5. Jared Mata, Jared Mortensen, and Cody Bouette got the wins. Chase Wentz hit two home runs and a triple for the series, batted in ning runs. March 25-26. The Pilots host Southwest Assemblies of God March 31-April 1.

Cal Baptist (#9) split four games with The Master's. The Lancers won the first game at home 8-2, and lost the second one 7-5. Taylor Siemens got the win in the first game, and Tyler Bersano got a complete-game win for the Mustangs in the second game. The Lancers won the first game at The Master's 8-6; 3B Kevin Odom went 3-3 with a home run, a double, and two RBI, and Devyn Rivera got the win. The Mustangs won the fourth game 3-2 (10 innings), despite being out-hit by the Lancers 9-4. SS Tanner Leighton scored the winning run when LF Chris Talley hit a fly ball to right field that was dropped. James Scott, who hed the Lancers scoreless the last three innings, got the win. The Mustangs were helped by five Lancer errors and five walks; the Lancers stranded the go-ahead run in four of the last five innings.

The Lancers are now 26-9. They visit San Diego Christian Wednesday and Thursday, and host San Diego Christian April 2.

Faulkner (#10) swept three games against Spring Hill, 4-2, 4-3, and 6-5. R.L. Eisenbach went the seven-inning distance in the first game for the Eagles, allowed four hits, struck out eight; the winning run was balked in. The Eagles won the second game with a two-run home run by 1B Michael Clayton in the bottom of the eighth. The Eagles had to come from behind again in the third game; They got a sacrifice fly by 2B Jonathan Gober and an RBI single by SS Kenny Miramontes in the bottom of the eighth to get within a run. In the bottom of the ninth, RF Matt Parker hit an RBI single to tie it, and LF Brennan Olive hit a sacrifice fly to win it.

Eisenbach's record is now 7-1, 1.52 ERA, with 55 strikeouts. The 28-7 Eagles visit Belhaven (ISR #23) April 1-2.

British Columbia (#11) did not play last week. They play six games in against Corban April 1-3. (Two of the games are make-ups of games rained out last month.)

Northwood (TX) (#12) swept four games at Texas-Brownsville, 11-3, 7-3, 12-7, and 11-2. The Knights host College of the Southwest April 1-2.

(*) Concordia-Irvine is #1 in the ISR strength of schedule, and ranked #17 in the ISR. Fresno Pacific is #2 in SoS, and Indiana Tech is #3.