Results from the fourth day of the NAIA national championship tournament in Lewiston, ID:
Embry-Riddle 6, Biola 3 (Biola eliminated)
Embry-Riddle scored the winning run in the third inning on an RBI single by Victor Roldan. This Eagles vs. Eagles contest took an inexplicable 3 1/2 hours to play.
Roldan's RBI was made possible by a major defensive blunder by Biola. Embry-Riddle had the bases loaded with one out, and Biola starter Kevin Fox got two big strikeouts. However, the catcher was unable to hold onto strike three. All he had to do was tag the runner coming home. Instead, he made a bad throw to first base, and Embry-Riddle had a run in, and the bases were still loaded for Roldan.
Biola, a light-hitting team, was able to get only six hits and two earned runs off Embry-Riddle starter Patrick Ryan, who went seven innings, struck out six. They got only one hit off reliever Chris Langlois.
Kenny Holmberg was 3-5 with a two-run home run in the seventh inning for Embry-Riddle. Sal Poti, who took over for Fox in the third, pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings, allowed only one hit.
Lewis-Clark State 14, Spalding 3 (Spalding eliminated)
Joey Dyche of the Warriors hit for the cycle, and this is the first time that this has ever been done in this tournament.
This game was scoreless for the first two innings. The Warriors got three runs in the third on an RBI double by Matt Vogel, and RBI singles by Ryan Stevenson and D.J. Kooken, and they were in control the rest of the way.
Derrick Landavazo got the start for the Warriors. He went seven innings, allowed three runs on five hits, struck out five. Austin Weilep pitched the remaining two innings, and gave up only one hit. Chris Erxleben took the loss for the Pelicans.
Dyche was 4-7 with three RBI. Stevenson was 4-5 with a double and two RBI. For the Pelicans, Kyle Bischof was 2-4 with a double.
Oklahoma City 6, Cumberland U. 2
This game was scoreless at the seventh inning stretch. Oklahoma City had two hits, Cumberland had one. The Bulldogs missed a chance to score in the sixth, when a baserunner at second failed to tag up on a fly ball. The next batter hit a long fly ball, but the sacrifice fly didn't happen because the baserunner was on second instead of third.
The Stars broke the ice on a squeeze bunt by Bobby Spain in the bottom of the seventh. Colby Overstreet walked to start the inning, and Scott Mitchell came in to pinch-run for him. Mitchell stole second, the went to third on a sacrifice bunt. When Spain put down the squeeze bunt, I heard somebody on the field yell "SQUEEZE", but Mitchell had a huge jump off third base, and there was no way they could get him.
The Stars then got another run in the seventh when they caught Casey Neale, who had been intentionally walked, in a rundown between second and third. A throw to third went astray, allowing Neale to score.
The Bulldogs responded with back-to-back home runs by Phillip Cuadrado and Donnie Burkhalter in the top of the eighth, tying the game at 2-2. The bottom of the eight started with an RBI double by Cameron Clarke, chasing Bulldog starter Jared Brown. Brown was replaced by Carlos Miranda, normally a starter. Then, Ryan Walker hit a two-run double, and Alexi Ojeda, who came in as a courtesy runner for Walker, scored on a misplayed ground ball.
The Bulldogs went three up, three down in the top of the ninth, and the game was over. Jeff McLaughlin got a complete-game win, allowing only three hits. Attendance: 1,310.
Oklahoma City has now qualified for their fourth consecutive championship game; even if they lose Wednesday night, they will get a bye and play the winner of the game between Embry-Riddle and the Cumberland vs. Lewis-Clark State survivor.
|