
NAIA 2001 BASEBALL WORLD SERIES
Game 15: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18, Western Oregon 0
May 29, 2001 at Harris Field
LEWISTON, Idaho – Two-time defending champion Lewis-Clark State continued its quest for a third straight title Tuesday, crushing Pacific Northwest Region rival Western Oregon 18-0 in the 45th annual NAIA Avista Baseball World Series at Harris Field.
In Tuesday’s loser-out games, Birmingham-Southern (52-11) eliminated Dallas Baptist, Tex. 9-1, and Bellevue, Neb. (48-17) ousted Warner Southern, Fla., 5-3 in 10 innings.
LCSC (54-12) is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the tournament and will play Birmingham-Southern Wednesday at 7 p.m. Western Oregon (41-19) will play Bellevue in a loser-out game at 3:30 p.m.
After a scoreless first two innings, the Warriors exploded for 17 runs in their next four at bats. They scored three runs in the third, six in the fourth, two in the fifth and six in the sixth before adding a single run in the eighth.
Rightfielder Matt Hellman led a five-homer onslaught, ripping two four-baggers and driving in six runs. Hellman had a two-run shot in the third and then hit a grand slam home run in the fourth.
Ricky Osuna, who scored four runs, got LCSC on the board first in the third with a solo blast. The Warriors also got home runs from Kurt Koshelnik in the sixth and Yoshi Kimura in the eighth. Koshelnik’s blast was a three-run shot.
LCSC outhit Western Oregon 16-3 as Brendan Ryan, Koshelnik and Osuna all had three hits. The threesome also each drove in three runs. Ryan extended his hitting streak to 19 games. Kimura scored four runs for the Warriors, who have won 11 straight games, including four in the World Series.
J.R. Crider allowed just two hits and fanned 12 in earning his 10th win of the season against one loss. Relievers Ben Royce and Nic Puckett each fanned one in one inning of relief. Liam Woodard was charged with 12 hits and 11 runs, all earned, in five innings in suffering his second loss against 10 wins for the Wolves.
Western Oregon 000 000 000 -- 0 3 1 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 003 626 01x -- 18 16 2
Liam Woodard, James Peterson (6), Josh Manning (7) and Toby Bottorff, Andrew
Reifers (6)
J.R. Crider, Ben Royce (8), Nic Puckett (9) and Gabe Stajduhar, Tyler Best
(7).
W – Crider (10-1). L – Woodard (10-2).
HR – LCSC, Kurt Koshelnik (6), Matt Hellman 2 (10), Yoshi Kimura (9), Ricky
Osuna (3).
Time: 2:46. Attendance: 3,315.