May 26, 2008

(Box Score)

LEWISTON, Idaho - No. 7 Spring Arbor (Mich.) University scored early and late breaking a 6-6 tie in the seventh and holding on for an 11-10 victory over No. 4 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) University at the 2008 AVISTA-NAIA World Series from Harris Field. The Cougars of Spring Arbor (39-8) plated five runs in the first and then spread an 8-7 lead into a seemingly-comfortable 11-7 edge with three tallies in the ninth. That lead was in jeopardy until Joe Meyers, the third of three SAU pitchers, struck out Carlos Maddox to end the game and earn his third victory of the season.

That four-run, ninth-inning lead shrunk to just one run after Azusa sent seven batters to the plate and had the tying run at first base. Drew Evans rapped a two-run single to bring the Cougars of APU to within one run. However, Meyers recorded his fourth strikeout and got out of a jam on a day when pitchers did not shine.

Pitchers struggled throughout the game for both teams as there was a combined 30 base hits, including 11 extra base hits. Overall, there were four hits batsmen, four walks and two wild pitches.

SAU sent nine men to the plate scoring five first-inning runs on three hits.  The Cougars took advantage of one hits batsmen, one walk, one passed ball and two wild pitches. Jonathan Herbig and Lucas Rider each drove in two runs with a base hit in the inning.

Azusa started to get going offensively with a pair of runs in the second thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Chris Feicht, his second of the year. APU added four more runs in the next three innings to tie up the count at 6-6 in the fifth.

Jim Baker, Spring Arbor's top hitter, blasted a two-run bomb to give the Cougars an 8-6 lead in the top of the seventh inning. It was his team-high ninth round tripper of the year. APU got one back in the bottom half of the frame. With two outs, Kirk Nieuwenhuis cleared the center-field wall with his 15^th homer of the year.

Jason Robinson, pinch-running for Eric Vojtkotsky, scored the game's winning run on a Herbig single. That hit was Herbig's third of the game and third RBI. The third run of the SAU inning was needed because of Azusa's late offense.

Myers went 4.2 innings and struck out four without allowing a walk. He gave up four runs on six hits. Garrett Hodges was hit with the loss on the hill. He tossed 6.0 innings and gave up three runs on four hits.

In addition to Herbig's offense for Spring Arbor, three other players posted two hits. Baker was one of them with two RBI and two runs scored. Azusa's Grant Beyer led a trio of Cougars with three hits apiece. He went 3-for-3 and scored twice. Drew Evans drove in four runs and went 2-for-4.

This was the first game between these two clubs in World Series play.

Spring Arbor, who made it to the 2007 National Championship contest, advances to play the loser of No.1 Lee (Tenn.) and No. 5 Union (Ky.) on Tuesday at 11 a.m. PST. Azusa ends its season at 46-12 overall.