By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
LEWISTON, Idaho – Just as ABC’s Good Morning America and more national outlets are taking notice of the LSUS baseball team’s season-long win streak, the Pilots could care less about being in the spotlight.
They are now just two victories away from the NAIA World Series championship, the goal they set when practice began last fall.
Wednesday night’s 10-0 romp over Southeastern (Fla.) brought undefeated LSUS even with Howard (Texas) Community College’s 2009 team, which won 57 in a row before losing and finishing 58-1. The Pilots passed the previous all-time college baseball best win streak by any four-year school 10 games ago.
While others are understandably fixated on the record, the top-seeded Pilots are fully focused at a different kind of history – the first LSUS national championship.
Tonight, after a run-rule seven-inning rout of Southeastern (46-14), the only other team that was 2-0 in Lewiston this week, LSUS has an 8:30 CDT rematch with fourth-seeded Hope International. The Pilots topped the Royals 6-3 Monday, getting a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning.
Hope (50-7) is the defending national champion and eliminated Cumberlands (Ky.) Tuesday, 9-7.
The LSUS-Hope winner advances to the championship final round Friday night. Sixth-seeded Southeastern and second-seeded Georgia Gwinnett (57-5) collide this afternoon in an elimination game.
After its first two World Series wins were nailbiters, LSUS took control immediately Wednesday night with a five-run first inning and rode a shutdown outing from the NAIA Pitcher of the Year, lefty Isaac Rohde. He improved to 16-0 with a four-hitter, striking out 10 in seven innings.
Getting out of the gate quickly has been a trademark of the Pilots.
“The first inning said the same thing that it’s said all year,” said LSUS coach Brad Neffendorf, accustomed to big leads early.
Josh Gibson’s RBI double plated Ryan Davenport, who had also doubled, for a 1-0 edge. One out later, Jackson Syring’s base hit scored Gibson before a push bunt from Ian Montz made it 3-0. With two down, Jose Sallorin’s single through the left side drove in two.
That was plenty for Rohde, who was the winning pitcher in Friday’s Series opener. Against Southeastern, he retired 14 straight in a pivotal stretch.
“Rohde was extremely good, going on four days rest, one day shy of what we would normally want, but it was another example of what he’s always done for us,” said Neffendorf.
Anthony Swenda took the first pitch of the LSUS fourth out of the park, ripping an opposite field solo home run. LSUS added two more on Austin Gomm’s sacrifice fly and Vantrel Reed’s RBI single for an 8-0 advantage.
Sallorin contributed a sac fly RBI and Diego Aragon added a run-scoring ground out in the fifth to put the Pilots in position to score the run-rule win.
While the Pilots’ ultimate goal is two wins away, Neffendorf is confident his team will maintain a workmanlike approach tonight.
“Tomorrow will be nothing more than us going out and working to get better again as a team. We got better today as a club and that’s what we need this late in the year,” he said. “If we come out tomorrow and do the same, we will have a chance to be in position again.”
All of the World Series games can be streamed at NAIA.org/watch.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com