LCSC baseball team opens Region I tourney play on Thursday

05-07-08

The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team is the overwhelming favorite and already has an automatic berth to the 52nd annual Avista NAIA World Series, but the Warriors still have plenty to play for when the Region I Tournament opens Thursday in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

The Warriors, ranked No. 2 in the final NAIA poll with a 47-5 record, enters the four-team double-elimination tournament coming off one of the few low points of the season. LCSC lost to Oregon Tech, the last place team in the Region 1 standings, 1-0 last Sunday at home and nearly lost a second game to the Owls before capturing a 2-1 victory in extra innings.  

LCSC is looking to shake off those offensive doldrums and get on another roll when it opens the Region I tournament as the top seed against No. 4 seed Concordia at 2 p.m.  UBC, the No. 2 seed, and College of Idaho, the No. 2 seed, meet at 6 p.m. 

Action continues on Friday with three games. Thursday’s two losers will meet at 10 a.m., while Thursday’s two winners play at 2 p.m. The winner of Friday’s 10 a.m. game and the loser of the 2 p.m. game then square off at 6 p.m.  The title and if necessary games are set for Saturday. 

The eventual winner will play host to Super Regionals, which is a best-of-three series against the Region II winner from California. If LCSC is the Super Regional host, the first Super Regional game will be next Wednesday at 6 p.m. The second game will then be played on Thursday at a time to be announced. As of now, the third game will be played either after the second game on Thursday or on Saturday. LCSC will not play a game next Friday because that is when the college will hold its graduation. 

Because LCSC gets an automatic berth to the NAIA World Series as the host team, it cannot play host to the Region I tournament. UBC and College of Idaho both went 17-7 in Region I play to tie for the top spot, but UBC had a better record against the next finisher, Concordia, and thus was awarded the host spot and No. 2 seed for regionals. College of Idaho is 28-24 overall, UBC is 24-26, and Concordia is 15-23. 

LCSC went 9-1 against College of Idaho this season, 9-0 against UBC, and 7-0 against Concordia. In the seven games against Concordia, LCSC outscored the Cavaliers 71-27. 

LCSC had a 17-game win streak snapped by Oregon Tech and scored a season-low 20 runs in either a three- or four-game series this season. 

The Warriors will likely send junior left-hander Michael Guerrero to the mound in Thursday’s contest.  Guerrero is 6-1 on the season with a 1.93 earned run average. He has struck out 51 and walked 19 in 65.1 innings. Guerrero, however, was roughed up in his only outing against Concordia this season. He allowed six hits, seven runs (five earned) and two walks in 4.2 innings during an 18-10 triumph.  

Junior right-hander Matt Fitts, 9-0 with a 3.58 ERA, is expected to get the nod on Friday. 

The Warriors are hitting .351 as a team, led by senior Kyle Greene. He is hitting .455 with 24 doubles, 16 home runs and 74 RBI. Mickey Pingree is hitting .427, while Ikaika Lester is at .380. 

LCSC leads the NAIA in earned run average at 2.95, and batters struck out per game at 8.6. The team is third in at-bats (35.8) and hits (12.5) per game, and is fourth in doubles (2.6) and lowest opponent’s batting average (.234). The Warriors are seventh in runs scored per game at 9.5 and eighth in fewest runs allowed at 3.6. 

On Wednesday, the Warriors finished No. 2 in the final NAIA poll of the season behind Lubbock Christian University. Lee University is third, followed by Azusa Pacific and Oklahoma City. 

All region tournaments are scheduled to conclude by Saturday and the remaining 14 teams will take part in the Super Regionals. The seven Super Regional winners will join LCSC and the two highest-ranked Super Regional losers, according to the final NAIA poll, in the 10-team World Series. If LCSC wins its Super Regional, then three at-large teams will be added to the field. 

2007-08 NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – May  7 (Rating #9 – Final Regular Season)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL	1st PLACE VOTES	2008 RECORD*	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Lubbock Christian University (Texas) (VI)	20	50-2	500
2	2	Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) (I)		47-5	476
3	3	Lee University (Tenn.) (XIII)		53-7	459
4	5	Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) (II)		41-8	438
5	4	Oklahoma City University (VI)		49-10	420
6	7	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) (XIV)		39-14	389
7	6	University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) (XI)		43-12	383
8	8	University of Mobile (Ala.) (XIII)		42-14	345
9	11	Tennessee Wesleyan College (XII)		41-15	334
10	10	Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) (II)		34-12	306
11	14	Bellevue University (Neb.) (IV)		45-12	290
12	13	University of St. Francis (Ill.) (VII)		41-9	289
13	12	Wayland Baptist University (Texas) (VI)		43-14	286
14	15	Union College (Ky.) (XII)		40-14	217
15	16	Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) (XIII)		41-19	213
16	24	Madonna University (Mich.) (VIII)		36-12	193
17	17	Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) (XI)		36-14	160
18	20	Louisiana State University-Shreveport (XIII)		44-14	141
19	9	Spring Arbor University (Mich.) (VIII)		32-7	138
20	19	Biola University (Calif.) (II)		34-16	115
21	NR	Oklahoma Baptist University (VI)		43-14	100
22	22	Malone College (Ohio) (IX)		36-11	95
23	23	Warner Southern College (Fla.) (XIV)		33-22	58
24	RV	Missouri Baptist University (V)		37-14	48
25	18	Texas Wesleyan University (VI)		40-14	36

Others receiving votes:

Cumberland University (Tenn.) (XI) 25; Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.) (XIII) 24; Northwood University (Fla.) (XIV) 8; Morningside College (Iowa) (III) 5; Lindenwood University (Mo.) (V) 4; Huntington University (Ind.) (VIII) 2; Saint Ambrose University (Iowa) (VII) 2; Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) (II) 1 

* Record through games played May 4