LEWISTON, Idaho – In a day twice affected by rain delays, the final game ended into the early hours Sunday during the 2023 Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field. Three of the four games were won by lower seeds, with the reigning National Champions from Southeastern (Fla.) being the lone winner from the higher seeds. Taylor (Ind.) continues its magical run, while Indiana Wesleyan and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) received their first program wins at the World Series.

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

No. 10 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (35-27) def. No. 6 Cumberlands (Ky.) (49-8), 4-3

• This matchup featured two teams looking to capture their first win at the World Series as they had combined to go 0-4 previously
• The game started off with a double to left center by Raphy Almanzar, but Zach Trevino was able to escape the inning with no runs scored
• During the bottom of the first, the Pioneers had runners on first and second when a single by Dionthan Cornet, just inside the third base line, scored Brycen Sherwood
• Cumberlands starter Hunter Risby (L 7-3) need 35 pitches to get out of the first inning as the MNU batters went deep into their at-bats with multiple foul balls; He did record two strikeouts to end the frame and six overall
• A two-out walk drawn by Joshua Hinojos set up a two run homer to left field, off the bat of Sean Maple, to give MNU a 3-0 lead after two innings
• The Patriots got on the board in the third as a groundout from Sujel Arias brought Almanzar home
• In the bottom of the same inning, Cornet launched a solo homer to left, bringing it to a 4-1 count after three
• Cumberlands was able to grab back one of the runs in the top of the six as they capitalized on the drawn walk by Evan St. Claire who was brought home off the double from Josh Simon
• Still needing a pair of runs, the Patriots had runners on second and third in the top of the eight which caused a pitching change for the MNU
• Pioneer starter Trevino (W 10-2) struck out nine of 32 batters faced across 7.1 innings, tossing 116 total pitches
• A fielder’s choice from Ben Snapp scored Max Harper and brought the score to a 4-3 deficit for UC
• Down to the team’s final out, Almanzar drew a walk and Charlie Muniz’s base knock to left gave the Patriots the chance they needed
• However, Reece Helland (Sv, 4) got the five outs he needed to move the Pioneers forward
• Sherwood and Cornet each had two hits on the game and combined for two scores and a pair of RBI for MidAmerica Nazarene
• In the loss, Muniz, St. Claire, and Simon recorded six of the team’s seven hits

No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan (40-19-1) def. No. 5 Bellevue (Neb.) (48-10), 5-3 (11 innings)

• Indiana Wesleyan started the game with an opening batter single to right center by Lucas Goodin; A double play and a strike out looking got the Bruins out of the inning
• Similarly, Bellevue’s Kanta Kobayashi singled up the middle as the first batter
• After both teams had a hit and runners left on the bags, the Wildcats were the first to score a run; Goodin walked and moved over on a balk, before being brought home on a single down the left field line by Colby Jenkins
• The Bruins immediately tied the game via a Logan Grant double to right center, bringing Brendan Luther across home plate
• In the top of the fourth, IWU scored two runs on RBI singles from Nick Wiley and Goodin
• Trailing 3-1, Mathieu Sirois homered to left field to close it to a one run deficit for the Bruins
• Bellevue starting pitcher Blake Crippen handed the ball off to the bullpen after 5.1 innings and two runners aboard before reliever Easton Brinton got two outs on only six pitches to limit the damage
• After a drawn walk with two outs away, the Bruins were able to knot the game 3-3 on a double down the left field line to score Jake Lacey from first
• In the bottom of the eighth, BU was threatening to break the 3-3 stalemate with runners on the corners, but Hunter Hoffman was able to get out of the jam for IWU
• For the first time in the tournament, a contest went into extra innings
• Top 11, Indiana Wesleyan loaded the bases by double, walk, and hit by pitch which set the table for a single by Evan Salmon to score two - Goodin and Luke Roman
• Teron Williams escaped the tight situation by getting two outs and leaving two Wildcat runners on the bases
• Bellevue was able to threaten to tie the game as they had two runs aboard, but the game ended on a pop up to shortstop
• Jenkins (3-6) and Goodin (2-3) led the offense for Indiana Wesleyan; Hunter Hoffman (W, 7-2) went 5.1 innings in relief with six strikeouts to get the victory

No. 7 Taylor (Ind.) (42-15) def. No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett (50-7), 23-7

• The action got start quickly in the third game of the day, as Camden Knepp had a leadoff double down the left line and Kaleb Kolpien drew a walk
• Mason David’s single up the middle and Brayden Manning’s double down the right line brought it to a quick 2-0 score
• In the bottom of the third, the Grizzlies scored three runs off four hits to take the lead – first off a solo homerun from Caden Smith; Jesus Pacheco tripled to right field, scoring the second run and Jon Ponder’s single brought it to a 3-2 score favoring the Grizzlies
• Two innings later, GGC increased their lead to 6-2 on a monster shot from Ajay Sczepkowski to left field, scoring Kyle Norton and Ponder
• During their next trip to the plate, Taylor snagged the lead right back with six runs of their own; A sacrifice fly and double scored the first two, leading to a Grizzlies pitching change
• Ben Kalbaugh singled to right to score the fifth and sixth runs of the game for TU followed by Sam Gladd going yard for the 8-6 lead
• Trailing by two, Smith hit a solo homerun to center field bringing it to a 8-7 deficit for Georgia Gwinnett
• Drawing a walk by Kade Vander Molen and capitalizing on two wild pitches, TJ Bass scored to once again put the Trojans on top by a pair
• In the top of the seventh, with runners on the corners, Gladd hit a sac-fly to right field which scored Manning – the first of eight runs in the inning
• With the bases juiced, Kolpien and Molen generated consecutive RBI walks; The two out rally continued as David’s double to right center field cleared the bases and brought the score to 15-7
• The offense continued to pour in for the Trojans as they added two more in the seventh and six runs in the next inning, taking advantage of five free bases and a throwing error
• Taylor’s offensive output is the most since Southeastern (Fla.) scored 25 runs in 2021
• Alec Holcomb (W, 7-2) was awarded the win and Gabel Pentecost (Sv, 4) the three inning save for the Trojans; David tallied seven RBI, Manning five, and Gladd four as TU combined for 18 hits and 20 RBI

No. 1 Southeastern (56-4) def. No. 9 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (34-17), 5-2

• Tonight’s contest was a matchup of the 2022 World Series Finale which saw the Fire defeat LCSC 11-5
• The Warriors opened the scoring in the top of the second, when heady base running by Isaiah Thomas took advantage of a fielding error and two wild pitches
• Southeastern countered right back with a two out, RBI single to right field by Josh Pogozzo, scoring Stephen Cullen
• Lewis-Clark State had a chance to break the tie in the top of the fourth as they had the bases loaded, but a Nick Seamons strikeout ended the frame
• The Fire broke the stalemate in the bottom of the fifth as Adonys Herrera singled to center field, which scored the speedy Nick Winkelmey from second base
• After throwing 112 pitches and striking out 13 batters, Darien Smith gave up a solo blast to left field – off the bat Thomas – to knot the game at 2-2 in the eighth
• Set up by singles from Nunez and Herrera, Chayce Bryant blasted a three run homer to center field, bringing the score to 5-2
• Reese Wissinger (W, 5-0) finished the last two innings and struck out five; Herrera went 3-4 with a run and RBI in the win

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