By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
LEWISTON, Idaho – After a win Thursday night that made a compelling entry in the college baseball record book, the unbeaten LSUS Pilots are one victory away from completing their dream season with a national championship.
LSUS captured its 58th straight game with a steady 14-4 drubbing of reigning champion Hope International in a semifinal contest of the NAIA World Series. It elevated the Pilots alone across all collegiate levels of their sport – from junior college through the NAIA and NCAA ranks – for posting the most consecutive wins in a season.
They passed the last milepost in the record book, topping the 57-game string by the 2007 Howard (Texas) Community College team, but the Pilots are zeroed in on a more appealing historic finish – bringing home the NAIA crown to Shreveport for the first time.
They get the chance tonight at 8:30 against a team they run-ruled 10-0 Wednesday night. Surprising Southeastern (Fla.), the sixth seed, hammered No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett 16-6 Thursday afternoon in the loser’s bracket final to advance to the Series championship round.
An LSUS victory ends the Series. In case the Fire (47-14) shocks the Pilots, the teams play again Saturday night in another 8:30 matchup for the title.
“We will worry about that record when we’re all said and done,” said LSUS coach Brad Neffendorf. “It’s great. They deserve recognition. But I think all of them would give any record up to compete for a national title, and we have earned that opportunity starting tomorrow.”
The Pilots posted their second straight double-digit victory by scoring seven runs in the first three innings, two in the second before a five-spot a frame later – and finishing off the Royals with seven unanswered over the last three innings after Hope (48-10) rallied.
Grabbing the quick 7-2 advantage created welcome breathing room. Two-run singles by Jose Sallorin, Ian Montz and Ryan Davenport did most of the early damage.
“It changed the game,” said Neffendorf. “It gave us a cushion and the ability to force them to have to fight their way back in against our pitching staff.”
Cobe Reeves (12-0) struck out nine and allowed only two earned runs despite getting touched up for eight hits in a 111-pitch, 5.2 inning start. The Royals managed just one more hit against relievers Kenneth Schecter, Lex Meinderts and David Hankins,
Hope loaded the bases twice and had two on another time against Reeves, but could not spark a big inning. Two LSUS errors keyed the Royals’ three-run sixth that closed the gap briefly to 7-4, but the Pilots responded right away in the seventh on two-run singles from Diego Aragon and Davenport.
“It’s what we’ve done a great job at doing all year, minimizing damage,” said Neffendorf, “and we did that tonight for the majority of it.”
At the top of the LSUS lineup, Davenport and Josh Gibson set the tone with three hits apiece. Montz and Anthony Swenda added two each with Davenport’s four RBI and three from Montz and Aragon leading the Pilots. Montz scored a team-best three times.
It carried the Pilots to where they aimed from the outset of fall practice, with a 20-member senior class stinging from missing opportunities to win Opening Round brackets o their homefield each of the past two seasons.
Coverage of the championship contest is available at NAIA.org/watch.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com