By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
LEWISTON, Idaho – Forget 54-0. The unbeaten, No. 1-ranked LSUS baseball team has never really paid their perfect record much heed.
Since the first day of fall practice, the Pilots have been zoned in on landing in Lewiston and staying there until they win the last game of the season – the national championship game in the NAIA World Series, which begins today.
LSUS is obviously the top seed in the 10-team double-elimination tournament, and will meet the 10th-seed, Grand View (Iowa) in a 1:30 CDT matchup. The winner won’t play again until Monday. The loser plays for its postseason life Saturday.
Although the Vikings (38-12) are the most surprising entry in the World Series, entering their regional bracket as the fourth-seed in a four-team field and losing their opener 13-3, they’re dangerous, said LSUS coach Brad Neffendorf. Every team is in this field.
“When you get out here and everybody’s 0-0, anything can happen,” he said. “Truthfully, you’ve seen anything does really happen 90 percent of the time out here. But you look at who’s here – Georgia Gwinnett, Hope International, Tennessee Wesleyan, they’ve all won it. I like it. Every team has some really good arms, and the ability to swing it and score. I think it will be a really good World Series.”
There is a palpable sense of urgency among a senior-laden LSUS roster.
“We understand this is a one-time thing,” said senior third baseman Josh Gibson, still stinging from LSUS losing on its homefield in each of the past two seasons and failing to reach Lewiston.
He and 19 other Pilots are seniors. “We don’t get to run it back next year. This team is this year’s team.”
Further evidence that Neffendorf and his club are taking nothing for granted: staff ace Isaac Rohde (14-0) will start on the bump today.
“We’re playing a very offensive team,” Neffendorf said. “Obviously we don’t have to score like we have (11 runs per game) but we’ve got to pitch and play defense really well to be in position at the end of this game.
“Isaac rebounds well – he throws a little better on less rest. We saw that last Wednesday (when Rohde entered in relief in the first inning of the regional championship game, and threw 4.2 scoreless innings just 36 hours after pitching seven innings in the regional opener).”
Trotting out the Pilots’ ace is easier considering the depth of the staff, which has a composite 2.32 ERA and has held opponents to a .190 batting average. The pitchers rely on a defense fielding at a remarkable .983 clip with just 29 errors all season.
“It’s a good field, more offensive this year. A lot of the explosive offenses in the country have gotten here,” said Neffendorf. “I think teams are going to score, but I think it will come down to who can pitch and defend, and I like our chances when it does, because we’ve done that well all year.”
Every team LSUS meets will aim to make their mark by wrecking the unbeaten record. Conversely, the Pilots have other things in mind, said Gibson.
“We don’t really pay much attention to that. We focus on the day, going pitch by pitch, making sure everyone’s doing their job and we’re holding each other accountable,” he said. “It’s just win the day. Come out and handle business.”
While the on-field excellence has produced an incomparable season, the roots of the Pilots’ perfection run well outside the baselines.
“It starts in the locker room,” said Gibson. “From Day 1, this group has been so close. We spend a lot of time together obviously on the field, but off the field, we really enjoy being around each other and I think that separates us from the rest.”
“We’re very loose, a very poised team that plays together extremely well, because they’ve grown to love being around each other, practicing together, playing together, and hanging out together,” said Neffendorf. “It can be tough at our level with so many revolving doors. We do have a large number of returners but we still had a lot of new faces. What they’ve done to form a unity between them, which translates to how we play on the field, that’s been the most impressive piece to me.”
As the first day of the Series unfolds, the Pilots are calm and confident.
“This will be the toughest format we’ve been in all year, as it is for nine other teams,” said Neffendorf. “But this group has a way of flipping the switch, and upping their level of intent and focus in moments I’ve never seen either. It’s almost like they get blood in their eyes.
“It wouldn’t surprise me that we might play deep into this tournament without an L on our record, but that won’t be the focus. They’ve done a really good job all year of playing one game at a time … staying routine, understanding who they are, and playing so well together. I think that plays a major part in what we’ve done, and I think it’s going to help toward the success we could have in this thing.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com