LEWISTON, Idaho – The 2023 Avista NAIA World Series marches forward in Day Five of play, as four teams began the day with title aspirations and three dreams remain at the conclusion of tonight’s two games. All three teams left have suffered one loss in the tournament, guaranteeing the “if necessary” game will be played on June 2^nd.

No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) and No. 3 Westmont (Calif.) will play a grudge match tomorrow, June 1^st at 6:35 p.m. PT/8:35 p.m. CT with the winner moving on to face No. 9 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Thursday night.

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

No. 9 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (37-17) def. No. 4 William Carey (Miss.) (49-11), 15-6

• Leading off the day, RJ Stinson was walked and Bobby Lada singled but could not be brought home from scoring position over the final two outs
• The LC offense clicked right away as Charlie Updegrave doubled to right field scoring Carter Booth and Isaac Haws crossed home plate on Isaiah Thomas’ sacrifice fly
• Holding a 2-0 lead, the Warriors tacked on four more in the top of the second inning
• Pu’ukani De Sa scored one on a Booth sacrifice fly before Nick Seamons launched a three-run shot to left field to make it a 6-0 margin
• William Carey turned the tables quickly with six runs of their own in the top of the fourth; two on Rigoberto Hernandez’s double down the line, one on Caleb Laird grounding out to third, and three on Lada going yard in center field
• With the score now 6-6, LCSC broke the tie in the same inning when Thomas hit a homer to center field
• LC State expanded their lead during their next trip to the plate, scoring two more on Seamons’ homer to left field, bringing the score to 9-6
• In the bottom of the seventh, Jakob Marquez and Booth both hit solo home runs to bring the Warrior lead to 11-6 before Thomas went over the outfield fence again for a two-run homer
• Seamons and Thomas each drove in five runs, adding a combined five hits and four runs in the process
• Entering the game out of the bullpen, Jake Green (W, 5-0) went 3.1 innings striking out three
• In the loss, Lada was 2-5 with three RBI and Hernandez was 2-4 with a pair of RBI

No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.) (58-5) def. No. 3 Westmont (Calif.) (46-9), 10-3

• Scoring was started by the Fire in the top of the second, taking a commanding 4-0 advantage
• Three errors by the Warrior defense allowed SEU to score on a fielder’s choice by Stephen Cullen, two runs off a Jose Marcano homerun, and Nick Block blasting one to left field
• Next time to the batter’s box, Southeastern plated a pair of runs on Chayce Bryant’s homer to left and then a double by Marcano.
• Leading off the top of the fourth, Block launch his second home run of the game, both to left field, making it an 8-0 lead for the Fire
• David Castillo’s double to right center field brought home two more runs and made it a 10-0 margin
• Westmont broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as Robbie Haw scored on Bryce McFeely’s batted ball; Then, in the next inning, Haw singled to left field which scored Daniel Patterson
• For a third consecutive inning, WC recorded a scored run – this time having Jack Fletcher score off a double by Parker O’Neil
• The trio of Marcano, Bryant, and Block combined for six hits, seven RBI, and six runs scored during 11 recorded at-bats; Starter JJ Sanchez (W, 5-0) earned the victory for seven innings commanding the hill and striking out seven

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