Game Accounts

The NAIA Coaches' Top 25 for April 26, with Boyd Nation's ISR rankings. Recap below the fold:

First place votes: Embry-Riddle 17, Oklahoma City 3, Lee 1

Embry-Riddle (#1) swept three games against Savannah College of Art and Design, 8-7 (11 innings), 8-0, and 5-2. DH Keaton Stroud batted in the winning run in the first game. Robbie Ratliff got the win; Ryan Vigue started, but was long gone when this was decided. This game drew 400 fans. Tucker Jensen and Steve Ortman combined for the shutout in the second game. Kevin Maloney went the distance in the third game, allowed seven hits. SS Ben Kline went 3-3, scored the winning run. Jensen is 11-1, 1.98 ERA, and is tied with Vigue and R.L. Eisenbach of Faulkner (#13) for most wins in the NAIA. Maloney is 8-0, 3.21 ERA. Vigue leads the NAIA in innings pitched, with 102 2/3; Jensen is second with 95 1/3. Vigue's 101 strikeouts put him in a tie for third in the NAIA; Crawford's 98 strikeouts puts him in fifth. Stroud leads the Eagles in hitting with a .405 average.

The Sun Conference tournament starts May 3, in Fort Myers, FL. The Eagles play South Carolina-Beaufort in the first round. The Bees will play Southeastern.

Oklahoma City ( #2) won two of three against Oklahoma Christian, losing 11-10, and winning 6-0 and 10-1. The first game was close all the way, but Riley Jones and Taylor Parcus held the Stars to one fun over the last four innings, while C Jeff Davis batted in the tying run on a ground out in the seventh inning, and P/DH Dustin Andrews batted in the winning run for the Eagles in the bottom of the ninth. Rich Hawkins pitched a complete-game shoutout in the second game, threw 144 pitches. In the third game, the Stars got the two runs they needed with two squeeze bunts in the fourth inning by 3B Dearth Parker and C Scott Dalrymple. Terrance Jackson and Steve Styck combined to hold the Eagles to one hit; Jackson went seven innings, allowed one run on one hit, struck out six, but walked seven. This was Jackson's third start and second win; he is .286 with six home runs and 27 RBI at the plate.

The Stars have clinched the Sooner Athletic Conference pennant. They visit Rogers State (#18) April 28, and finish their regular season at home against Rogers State April 30.

Cal Baptist (#3) defeated Division II San Francisco State 11-1 and Patten 16-12. In the game against the Gators, LF Jake Johnson went 4-4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Patrick Smith got his first start of the season, went 5 1/3 innings, allowed no runs on four hits, struck out six. Smith is 5-0, 1.89 ERA, with 29 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings pitched.

The top three teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference didn't play any conference games this week. The Lancers lead the GSAC with a 23-9 record. Biola (#12) is one game back, with a 22-10 record. Fresno Pacific (#15) is three games back, with an 20-12 record. The Lancers complete their GSAC schedule with Point Loma Nazarene; they host the Sea Lions April 27-28, and visit April 30.

Lee (#4) came up two games short of running the table in Southern States Athletic Conference play. They lost two of three to Southern Polytechnic (#19), winning the first game 4-3, and losing the next two 7-3 and 3-2. Shay Crawford got the win in the first game, allowed one earned run on six hits, struck out ten. 3B Preston Scoggins singled in the winning run. Crawford is 9-1, 1.07 ERA, with 98 strikeouts. Ray Danbury hit a two-RBI double for the winning run in the second game. Dan Lazzoni threw six pitches to get the win. 3B Jon White hit a sacrifice fly for the winning run in the third game; Josh Strawn got the win.

The SSAC tournament starts April 29 in Columbis, GA; William Carey is the host. The first-round matchups are Lee vs. William Carey, Faulkner (#13) vs. Southern Polytechnic, Brewton-Parker (#16) vs. Belhaven (#22), and Auburn-Montgomery (#6) vs. Shorter.

Cumberland (#5) swept three games from Lyon, 10-1, 11-0, and 12-1, and the second and third games were mercy-ruled. Aaron Wilkerson got the win in the first game, allowed five hits, struck out ten. Will Locante got the shutout in the second game, struck out 13 in only six innings, allowed one hit and one walk.

The Bulldogs have won 13 straight. Wilkerson has won 24 straight, and continues to have the lowest ERA in the NAIA, 0.73. The Bulldogs complete their regular season at home against Mid-Continent April 28-29.

The Bulldogs lead the TranSouth Conference with a 17-4 conference record. Trevecca Nazarene (#24) is one game back with a 16-5 record, and Union U. (TN) (ISR #22) is two games back with a 15-6 record. The TranSouth tournament starts May 2 at Jackson, TN; Union U. Is the host, and streaming video should be available here.

Auburn-Montgomery (#6) got an 8-7 win over Division II Columbus State, then completed the regular season with a sweep of Brewton-Parker (#16), 5-2, 1-0, and 4-1. LF Rusty Todd singled in the winning run against Columbis State; Tyler Dent held Columbus State scoreless for the last 3 2/3 innings, got a save. In the first game against Brewton-Parker, starter Kyle Mitchell went eight innings, allowed one earned run on four hits, struck out nine. Wes Cook got a complete-game shutout in the second game; 1B Logan Remson scored the only run of the game when DH Todd Cherry drew a bases-loaded walk. Cody Hall went the distance in the third game, allowed five hits, struck out 15. The Senators will play Shorter in the first round of the SSAC tournament on April 29.

Oklahoma Baptist (#7) lost two of three against Lubbock Christian (#10); the Chaparrals won the first two games 7-5 and 7-6, and the Bison salvaged the third game 15-5. In fhe first game, LF Ryan Meade went 2-3 with a home run and four RBI. In the second game, pinch-hitter Mike Marshall hit a walk-off RBI single to win it. 2B/CF Richard Bohlken went 3-4 with a home run. The Chaps got four runs in the first inning of the third game, and it was all Bison after that; LF Michael Sliger went 3-5 with five RBI and two home runs for the Bison, DH Daniel Baptista went 4-4 with a home run, three RBI and four runs scored. Richie Murowski went the distance for the Bison, allowed 11 hits and struck out eight.

The Bison host Saint Gregory's on Wednesday, and Wayland Baptist April 29-30. The Chaparrals finish their regular season at Saint Gregory's April 29-30. They will host the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament, which starts May 4.

Union C. (KY) (#8) lost a mid-week game at Campbellsville 10-1, and swept three games against Milligan, 6-4, 3-1, and 6-4. In the loss to Campbellsville, the Bulldogs committed five errors, left 13 on base. Brandon Hedrick got the win in the first game against Milligan, and helped his cause with a hit and two RBI at the plate. In the third game, the winning run came on a two-run home run by the same Brandon Hedrick, the DH this time. Hedrick is 9-1, 2.91 ERA, and .326 with 38 RBI at the plate.

The Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament starts May 3 in Kingsport, TN.

LSU-Shreveport (#9) lost two of three at Texas Wesleyan, losing the first game 5-1, winning the second game 11-3, and losing the third game 4-2. Derek Vaughn got the win for the Rams in the first game, went 7 2/3 innings, allowed one run on six hits, struck out six. In the second game the Pilots got all the runs they needed in the first inning; SS Manny Estrada went 3-5 with a home run and two RBI. The third game was decided by a four-run fifth inning for the Rams; SS Christian Soberanes hit a three-run home run. Soberanes, a transfer from Lubbock Christian, went 4-4 for the game. He went 3-4 with a triple in the second game.

The Pilots will host the Red River Athletic Conference tournament, which starts April 30. Audio webcasts of Pilots games are available here.

Concordia-Portland is #1 in SoS. Fresno Pacific is #2, and Concordia-Irvine is #3. Concordia-Portland is ranked #98 in the ISR; they might make it to the NAIA West tournament if they win their series against Corban this weekend.

David Bergin of Tennessee Wesleyan tied a college baseball record by hitting five home runs in a game against Reinhardt on April 22. The record was set by Jake Ford of Spalding, against Tennessee Wesleyan in 2003.