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LEWISTON, Idaho - (Box
Score)
Fourth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan tallied
five home runs including an NAIA record
tying three by senior right fielder
Jordan Guida to out-slug No. 1 LSU
Shreveport (La.), 17-10, in Avista-NAIA
World Series action on Thursday night at
Harris Field.
With the victory, the Bulldogs, who were
winless in two prior trips to Lewiston
(2010, 2011), improve to 4-1 in the
tournament and 52-12 overall. Tennessee
Wesleyan advances to play No. 9 Rogers
State (Okla.) at 6:35 p.m. PDT on
Friday. The Hillcats were the only squad
out of the final three that had not
received an earlier round bye, giving
them a direct spot in the championship
game.
The Bulldog offense, which entered the
contest leading the Series in batting
average (.318), runs (41), home runs (9)
and hits (49), continued its torrid pace
with 16 hits, including five home runs
and four doubles. Jordan Guida's three
hits - all home runs -- six RBIs and
four run effort paced the squad. The
last individual to hit three home runs
in a World Series game was Beau Mills of
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) against Spring
Arbor (Mich.) in 2007. The other two
bombs were hit by third baseman Taylor
Oldham and first baseman Jake Stone.
On the mound, three Bulldogs covered the
nine innings with starter Zach Fleshman
earning his seventh win of the season,
despite allowing seven runs (four
earned) on nine hits. He also walked one
and struck out one. Corey Collins, one
of the two Tennessee Wesleyan relievers,
finished the contest with a game-high
five strikeouts in only 2.1 innings of
work.
For LSU Shreveport, Greg Friesen had
another solid game, going 2-for-5 from
the dish including a two-run home run.
He also had three RBIs and two runs
scored. Other notable performances
included Manny Estrada (2-for-4) and
Brandon Cooksey (2-for-4), who finished
with two hits each, respectively.
Cam Ellis (2-1) took the loss for the
Pilots. Ellis, who was making his first
start of the season, allowed six runs on
six hits in just two innings. Despite
the deficit, LSU Shreveport received
four strong innings of relief by Jake
Knight, who struck out four.
Tennessee Wesleyan wasted little time in
jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first
inning on wild pitch that scored Travis
Burnside and a three-run home run by
Guida.
The Pilots broke through with a pair of
their own in the second to make it 4-2.
Back-to-back singles by Devin Greco and
Estrada set the table before a throwing
error by the Bulldog left fielder and
double by Cooksey plated the pair.
The Bulldogs, however, rallied back with
four runs in the third and five runs in
the fourth to extend their advantage to
13-2. The stretch was highlighted by
back-to-back-to-back home runs by Stone,
Oldham and Guida. The fourth inning
rally was aided by a barrage of Pilot
miscues, as Tennessee Wesleyan scored
the five runs only three hits, while LSU
Shreveport committed three errors.
Despite the 11-run deficit, LSU
Shreveport powered back with a three-run
fifth on an RBI single by Fiesen
followed by a two-RBI double from
Estrada. A pair of wild pitches and a
two-run home run by Friesen made it 13-9
by the end of the sixth.
The Bulldogs added another four runs in
the top of the eighth when Guida smashed
a two-run bomb to open the frame.
Tennessee Wesleyan's other two runs that
inning were scored on a Burnside double
and an Anthony Boix single. LSU
Shreveport managed to score a run in the
bottom of the frame to make it 17-10,
but pulled no closer.
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