Matchup: (rv) Keiser University Seahawks (No. 4 Seed) vs No. 4 Lewis-Clark State College Warriors (No.1 Seed)
Records: Keiser Seahawks
(35-18)
vs. Lewis-Clark State (42-7)
Score: Keiser 3, Lewis-Clark State 7
Pitchers of Record: W: E. Canfield (8-1), L:
A. Taylor (8-2)
Time of Game: 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET
Harris Field - Lewiston, Id.
LEWISTON, Idaho – (rv) Keiser Baseball fell to Lewis-Clark State 7-3 Monday evening at Harris Field in the opening round of the NAIA tournament, but not without putting up a fight every step of the way.
Starter Austin Taylor took the ball and worked seven innings, but Lewis-Clark State wasted no time, as Brandon Nguyen led off the bottom of the first with a home run to right center to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead right out of the gate.
Keiser answered in the second. Avery Doezie singled to right center, and Maddox Shaver followed with a single through the left side. With two outs, Andres Balart came through with an RBI single to center to tie the game at one. But the Warriors struck back hard in the bottom half with a Jackson Reed single, and with Noah Weintraub being hit by a pitch, a wild pitch moved both runners up. Ryan Prescott grounded in the first run, then Cade Westerlund singled to left center to score another. Bo Stinson came in to run for Westerlund, and when Payton Smith reached on a fielder's choice, a throwing error by the Seahawks allowed Stinson to reach third. Stinson then scored on a Brandon Nguyen fielder's choice to make it 4-1.
Keiser kept fighting when Tad Brooks doubled to right center in the fourth and scored on a Karson Nadal sacrifice bunt to make it 4-2. In the fifth, Jeremy Garcia singled up the middle, raced to third on an Elian Collado single to right center, and scored on a Jake Olsen sacrifice fly to cut it to 4-3. Lewis-Clark State responded immediately, though, as Jackson Jaha singled through the left side to score Payton Smith and push the lead back to 5-3.
With two outs in the seventh, the Warriors extended their lead when Izzy Madariaga walked and Bryce Johnson singled up the middle to put two on, and Jackson Reed doubled to right center to score them both and make it 7-3.
Bastyan Hernandez came on in relief of Taylor for the eighth inning and was sharp, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Jordan Lennartson kept Keiser off the board over the final four innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three.
Tad Brooks led the offense with two hits, including a double and scored a run. Maddox Shaver went 2-for-4 from the seven-hole, and Andres Balart delivered the two-out RBI single that tied it up in the second.
The Seahawks will look to keep their season alive in an elimination game tomorrow at 5:30 PM against Texas A&M - Victoria.
- With the loss, Keiser moves to 35–18 overall
- The Seahawks move to 15-14 all-time in the NAIA Opening Round
- Tad Brooks was Keiser's most productive hitter on the day, going 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and scoring on a Karson Nadal sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4-2
- Maddox Shaver had a steady night at the plate, going 2-for-4 from the seven-hole with both hits coming against Lewis-Clark State starter Evan Canfield
- Andres Balart came through with the biggest hit of the night for Keiser, delivering a two-out RBI single to center in the second inning to tie the game at one
- Austin Taylor pitched a full seven innings and threw 100 pitches (67 strikes). He allowed seven runs — six earned — on 11 hits, with one home run and three strikeouts
- Bastyan Hernandez was sharp in relief, retiring all three batters he faced in the eighth inning and striking out two of them on just 11 pitches
- Jake Olsen drove in a run without recording a hit, delivering a sacrifice fly to right field in the fifth inning that scored Jeremy Garcia to cut the deficit to 4-3
- Elian Collado had one of Keiser's eight hits on the night, singling to right center in the fifth inning to move Jeremy Garcia to third and set up the Olsen sacrifice fly. He also swiped a base on the night
- Keiser went 4-for-13 with runners on base and left six runners on base for the game, stranding several opportunities that could have kept them closer in the middle innings
The Seahawks will look to keep their season alive in an elimination game tomorrow at 5:30 PM against Texas A&M - Victoria.
