Concordia, Menlo to Play for NAIA West Championship on Friday
PORTLAND, Ore.—Winning their third straight one-run game, the Concordia University baseball team stands as the last undefeated team in the NAIA West Grouping Tournament and will play for the championship and an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships on Friday.
Concordia followed a pair of close wins on Wednesday with a 2-1 victory over No. 2-seed Menlo College (Calif.) on Thursday afternoon at Porter Park to advance to the finale.
After the loss to the host Concordia side, Menlo fought back with a 5-0 win over top-seeded British Columbia in an elimination bout to force a rematch with the No. 4-seeded Cavaliers.
The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Baseball World Series with nine opening rounds taking place May 9-13. Teams advancing from opening rounds will attend the final site tournament May 24-31 in Lewiston Idaho at Lewis-Clark State University
Game 4 – #3 Corban def. #5 Oregon Tech, 3-0 -
BOX SCORE
Facing elimination, Corban's Jamie McCaffrey used 110 pitches to throw a complete-game 3-0 win over Oregon Tech in the fourth game of the NAIA West Tournament.
Corban (30-23) scored single runs in the first, fifth and seventh innings to give McCaffrey enough support for the team’s eighth shutout of the season.
Corban’s Derek Legg and Peter Martin connected on back-to-back two-out doubles for the initial score in the first inning. Three innings later, the Warriors doubled their lead as Landon Frost earned an RBI via a walk with the bases loaded.
Oregon Tech (20-36) starter Talon Sisley escaped additional damage with a fly to right which stranded the trio of Corban runners. A leadoff walk by Jeremiah Forrister turned into the final run of the game as William Koenig drove a ball to left field which scored Forrister moments after stealing second base to race into scoring position.
Corban outhit the Owls 5 to 4 with Koening finishing the game 2 for 3 at the plate. Alex Reynolds came up with two of the four OIT hits, all of which were singles.
Game 5 - #4 Concordia def. Menlo, 2-1 - BOX SCORE
Concordia's Jon Yearout and Blake Evetts allowed just one run on eight hits as the Cavaliers defeated Menlo College 2-1 to advance to the NAIA West Grouping Tournament Championship.
Yearout battled Menlo starter Derek Martinez pitch for pitch as neither team would score through the first five frames.
Concordia (27-25) finally broke the string in the top of the sixth with centerfielder Blake Drake pelting a triple to deep right center. From there, Cole Shidaki delivered a shot to left which easily allowed Drake to stroll home.
Ben Talbot helped the Cavs add to their total with a leadoff double in the eighth. After a pair of strikeouts by Martinez, Ryne Briley, the Cavalier RBI leader, added to his haul with a shot to left which scored pinch runner Julian Burgess.
The run would soon prove its importance as the Owls cracked the shutout in the bottom of the eighth. Yearout got two quick outs to start the stanza before putting Ryan Coonan on base with a hit by pitch. After stealing second, Coonan rounded the final two bases on a Kyer Vega single to right-center field. Jimmy Bosco followed with a single to right to place runners at the corners and the go-ahead run on base.
Entering a game in a high-pressure situation for the second straight day, Blake Evetts induced a groundout to second on a 3-1 pitch to Daniel Comstock to end the threat.
Evetts allowed a single to start the ninth but the Cavalier defense helped the cause as Talbot erased the runner on a steal attempt and Jimmy Sanchez collected a single to left from Michael Brandi and got the second out by firing to second baseman Jordan Keeker who applied the tag on Brandi who tried to stretch the hit into a double on the play. Evetts finished the game and earned his fourth save of the season with an infield pop-up.
Menlo out hit CU 8 to 7 in the game with Bosco and John Bowling each collected two hits. Martinez struck out eight batters in the loss while Yearout fanned five against two walks.
Game 6 - #1 British Columbia def. #3 Corban, 6-1 - BOX SCORE
The UBC Thunderbirds scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning, giving them all the offense they would need in beating Corban 6-1 in an elimination game at the NAIA West Tournament Thursday.
Tyson Popoff led off the third with a triple to right-center field, and then scored two batters later when Andrew Firth laid down a bunt single down the third-base line. Mike Hole followed with a two-run double later in the inning, before Jeremy Kral, Austin Fruson and James Stewart plated single runs each on a ground out, double and single, respectively.
The six-run lead gave UBC pitchers Alex Graham, Alex Webb and Connor Smith plenty of comfort from the mound, as they took over from three to pitch the Thunderbirds to the 6-1 win. Graham started the game for the Thunderbirds, and shut out the Warriors over six full innings, while Webb (two innings pitched) and Smith (one inning pitched) closed out the win from there.
On the flip side, the Warriors’ one bad inning masked a masterful performance in relief by Jordan Johansen, as he pitched five straight perfect innings after the third.
Using a 6-run third inning, No. 1-seed British Columbia stayed alive in the NAIA West Grouping Tournament with a 6-1 win over No. 3-seeded Corban on Thursday at Porter Park. UBC will turn around and play No. 2-seeded Menlo College in the evening game with a spot in the tournament championship on the line.
The winner will face the host Concordia University Cavaliers at noon on Friday with a berth to the NAIA National Championships on the line.
Game 7 – #2 Menlo def. #1 British Columbia, 6-0 -
BOX SCORE
Menlo starting pitcher James Jensen threw a complete-game shutout in the final game of the NAIA West Tournament Thursday, and the Oaks beat UBC 6-0 to earn the right to play Concordia for the NAIA West Tournament title Friday.
Jensen finished with five strikeouts in the game, and held the high-powered Thunderbirds offense to just seven hits in the game, none of which went for extra bases.
The Oaks’ offense, meanwhile, provided Jensen with plenty of run support in the game, starting with a four-run bottom of the fourth in which the Oaks scored all four runs with two outs in the inning. James Threw opened the scoring for the Oaks in the inning with a two-run triple to right-center field. Kyer Vega then scored Threw with a single up the middle two batters later, while Jimmy Bosco immediately followed with a double to right field that scored Ryan Coonan.
The Oaks then added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, which capped the game’s scoring at 6-0. Michael Brandi doubled to left-center field to score Ronnie Schivo for the Oaks’ first run of the inning, then scored himself on a fielder’s choice later in the inning.