Lindenwood 3, Avila 2
In the closest completed game of the NAIA Region V Tournament, Lindenwood earned a rematch with Missouri Baptist and eliminated Avila with a 3-2 victory. The victory was the 40th of the season for the Lions, the fourth straight year that they have reached that mark.
Avila led early on with a run in the second and fifth innings. The Lions came back in the sixth and tied it, taking advantage of two straight walks to start the inning.
The seventh inning proved to be the difference. In the top half of the inning, Avila got its first two runners on base and bunted them to second and third. With one out, the Lions forced a flyout to right field that was not far enough to score the runner. A walk loaded the bases and Erik Silkwood came in to pitch for Lindenwood. On a 2-2 pitch, he struck out the final Eagles batter in the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning a two-out rally scored the winning run. Chris Torres started the rally with a double, and A.J. Bancroft scored him with a bloop single down the right field line.
Silkwood finished the game from there, allowing just one runner in the final two innings, with that runner being thrown out stealing by Bancroft.
Lindenwood had seven hits total, including two from Ryan Shockley and Mark Ruiz. Ruiz added a RBI as did Sean Cunningham. Marcus Cogman and Chris Getz had the other runs for the Lions.
Silkwood picked up the win, going 2 1/3 innings. He allowed no hits, walk one and struck out three. James Huff started the game, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing six hits and two runs.
Avila had six hits on the day, but left 10 runners on base, including seven in scoring position. Jeremy Arbiso had two hits and a run and Brandon Haley added two hits.
Avila concludes its season with a 34-15 record.
Lindenwood 5, Missouri Baptist 5
The championship game of the NAIA Region V Tournament between one-loss Lindenwood and undefeated Missouri Baptist ended up being won by the weather as the latest of many storms to disrupt the tournament caused the event to end. The top two teams in the region were denied a chance to decide the title on the field as the field became unplayable during the last rain. The 5-5 tie was called with Lindenwood batting in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and no one on base.
The Lions and Spartans had put on an entertaining game up to that point. Missouri Baptist jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. With two outs, the squad had two hit batters and a walk to load the bases. Clint Massey then cleared the bases with a three-run single that fell between three Lions in short left field. Both teams added a run in the second and the scored stayed 4-1 until a long rain delay in the bottom of the fifth.
When play resumed, Lindenwood came out strong with a four-run inning. The big hit was a bases loaded double by Sean Cunningham that scored two runs and tied the game. One batter later, Chris Getz scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Lions up 5-4. Missouri Baptist tied the game in the top of the sixth and it stayed that way until it was called off.
Mark Koski threw all nine innings for Lindenwood. He allowed seven hits, five runs, three walks, and he struck out nine. Offensively, Justin Lamar and Matt Pohlman each had two hits and a run, and Lamar also drove in a run.
Besides Massey, Missouri Baptist received two hits, a run and a RBI from Rudy Gavello, and Scott Schneider scored twice. In the first four innings before the rain, Matt Murray allowed just four hits and one unearned run, and he struck out five.
Due to regional rules since the tournament was not completed, Missouri Baptist will advance to the Super Regional since it is the highest remaining seed. The Spartans, now 40-14-1, will face Oklahoma City in the next round.
Lindenwood concludes its first season under Doug Bletcher with a 40-22-1 mark.