JOURNAL SPORTS
STERLINGTON – The longest winning streak in college baseball history ended Friday and the LSUS Pilots settled for a 2-2 record in a weekend event showcasing several nationally-ranked NAIA teams.
The No. 1 Pilots surrendered a lone run in the seventh and final inning Friday against No. 25 Central Methodist (Mo.), and for the first time since the streak began, the Pilots couldn’t muster an answer.
Central Methodist won the seven-inning contest, 4-3, in the first game of the Cajun Collision at the Sterlington Baseball Complex.
Central Methodist’s Jo Smith scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh inning, nullifying LSUS catcher Makana Olaso’s two-run home run in the previous inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSUS put two runners on with two outs via a walk and a hit-by-pitch, but pitcher Westin Walls’ s eighth strikeout of the afternoon highlighted a 107-pitch outing to secure the win.
LSUS (8-2) bounced back Friday night with a 6-5 squeaker over No. 19 Mid-America Christian (Okla.).
Saturday, the Pilots bounced Dakota State 11-1 but fell 3-1 to 16th-ranked Missouri Baptist.
While the Pilots routinely hammered opponents in the 65-game winning streak, LSUS also experienced comeback wins.
With 30 new players on the 2026 roster, LSUS trailed in five of its first seven games this season, pulling out victories in the previous four games when trailing.
The Pilots won the first six games of this season despite replacing every offensive starter and starting pitcher in the 30 new faces. The streak included four homefield wins over No. 4 Hope International, which won the 2024 NAIA World Series.
The 65-game winning streak dwarfs other college baseball streaks, like the previous NAIA record 41 (Point Park, 1990), the NCAA’s longest streak of 46 (Savannah State, 2000), and Howard College’s 57 straight in 2007 – the longest junior college record and previous all-time record holder.
LSUS’s last loss came on May 16, 2024, in a 2-1 decision to Kansas Wesleyan in the championship game of the NAIA Opening Round Tournament.
In those 631 days, LSUS won the school’s first NAIA national championship in any sport and made trips to the Louisiana Capitol, Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., The White House and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as part of the celebration of the perfect 59-0 season.
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