NAIA baseball action during the past week, with Boyd Nation's ISR ranking.

ISR #1 Lewis-Clark State is #8 in strength of schedule. They swept four games against Oregon Tech, 13-3, 8-2, 20-1, and 12-9. Garrett Wilson went the distance in the second game, allowed eight hits, struck out four (story). 3B/1B Brady Steiger went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the third game, and Ryan Sells got the win (story). Steiger was 12-for-16 with five doubles and two home runs for the series, and he is batting .482.

The Warriors then won the first of six games in Daytona Beach, FL. They defeated Saint Thomas 3-2. DH Eric Peterson singled in the winning run, and Carson Nylund got the win (story).

The Warriors play at #12 Embry-Riddle March 19, 21, 22, and 23, and play Webber International March 20 in Daytona Beach.

#2 Cal State San Marcos swept four games against Vanguard, 3-0, 6-2, 5-1, and 8-1. James Dykstra pitched the first eight innings of the shutout in the first game, allowed two hits, struck out 10. 3B Kenny Belzer hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning for the winning run. The losing pitcher, Kanakani Usui, went the distance, allowed only five hits. The Lions were done in by four unearned runs on four errors in the second game. LF Kyle Kuck went 2-for-3, singled in the winning run, and pitched a hitless seventh inning (story). Steve Messner went the distance in the third game, allowed four hits. Belzer went 2-for-5, batted in three runs, including the winning run. Kevin Hilton went the seven-inning distance in the fourth game, allowed seven hits, struck out three. The Cougars' first two runs came on balks (story).

The Cougars are 19-2. Hilton is 4-0, 0.82 ERA, and Dykstra is 6-0, 1.15 ERA, with 53 strikeouts. The Cougars visit now-Division-II Point Loma Nazarene March 22, and host Point Loma March 23.

Oklahoma City (19-4, 10-1 SAC) defeated Southern Nazarene 12-11, and swept three games against Mid-America Christian, 15-5, 8-1, and 11-0. 2B Brian Fisher went 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and two runs scored against Southern Nazarene. CC/RF Dane Phillips hit a three-run home run in the first game against Mid-America Christian. Cody Crabaugh got the win in the second game, allowed two hits in five innings. Davis Henderson, Will Patrigo, and Allen Townsend combined for the shutout in the third game; Henderson recorded ten strikeouts. The Stars host Bethany March 12, Southern Nazarene March 13, and Briar Cliff March 17-18.

Concordia-Irvine (15-6, 7-1 GSAC) won two of three in a non-conference series against Cal State-San Marcos, losing 7-3 and winning 8-7 (10 innings) and 6-5. James Dykstra went the distance for the Cougars in the first game, allowed three runs on six hits, struck out seven. LF Kyle Konicek hit an RBI single for the winning run in the second game. CF John Doering laid down a bunt to score 2B Chris Limus for the winning run in the third game. The Eagles visit Point Loma Nazarene March 16, host Point Loma Nazarene March 17, and host Sioux Falls 18 and 21. The Eagles are tied with Azusa Pacific for the lead in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Oklahoma City (15-4, 6-1 SAC) defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan 12-4, and swept Northwestern Oklahoma State, 10-5, 3-0, and 10-2. 2B Brian Fisher went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBI against Oklahoma Wesleyan. C Chad Carman hit a solo home run for the winning run in the first game against Northwestern Oklahoma State. Rich Hawkins pitched the shutout in the second game, allowed four hits. C/RF Dane Phillips hit a three-run home run in the third game, and got another RBI on a ground out. The Stars visit Southern Nazarene March 6, host Mid-America Christian March 8 and 10, and visit Mid-America Christian March 9.

Concordia-Irvine (13-5, 7-1 GSAC) swept four games against Vanguard, 9-7 , 20-6, 10-9, and 14-4. Pinch-hitter Matt Taylor hit a two RBI double in the top of the ninth to win the first game. 1B Tony Harkey, Jr. hit two home runs and went 3-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored in the second game. LF Kyle Konicek when 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI in the third game, and 3B Ryan DiMascio went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in the fourth game. The Eagles visit non-conference Cal State-San Marcos March 9, and visit Cal State-San Marcos March 10. The Eagles lead the Golden State Athletic Conference; The Master's is second with a 6-2 record.

Lee (21-2, 9-0 SSAC) swept Milligan 10-1 and 13-0. SS Edmanuel Rivera and 1B Roberto Reyes hit home runs in the first game. Dustin Lawson, Kyle Briner, and Joe Fabre combined for a two-hit shutout in the second game. The Flames then swept three games against Truett McConnell, 8-1, 3-2, and 14-4. Kris Hall went seven innings in the first game, allowed one run on three hits, struck out 12. The Flames were out-hit 5-4 in the second game, but 2B Blake Barber singled in a run in the bottom of the seventh to win it. LF Mike Moore went 3-for-4 with a home run in the third game. The Flames visit Bryan March 7 and Tennessee Temple March 8, then host Loyola-New Orleans March 9-10. Barber is batting .507 for the Flames.

If you've seen, or are planning to see the film “Moneyball”, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, it's entertainment. Most of the real story can be found on Wikipedia, in the articles on A's GM Billy Beane and Assistant GM Paul DePodesta.

DePodesta was taken out of the film entirely, and replaced by the fictional character played by Hill. The film portrayed Beane as placing his career on the line with the deals he made during the 2002 season, when, in fact, he had already been the General Manager of the A's for four seasons.

The book that the film was based on was written by Michael Lewis and published in 2003. It gives a history of “sabermetrics”, a set of baseball statistics that started with Bill James, and was refined by a community of geeks. James felt that batting average, home runs, and RBI are ineffective measurements of a players performance. On-base percentage is better, but James came up with the “runs created” statistic, which is: