May 30, 2009

Story courtesy of Bert Sahlberg, Media Coordinator

Final Bracket | Championship Information

LEWISTON, Idaho – (Final Bracket) Tournament MVP Will Stramp and Ross Blondin drove in three runs apiece to help Lubbock Christian University (Texas) capture its second National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national baseball title with an 11-8 win over Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) in the championship game of the 53^rd annual Avista-NAIA World Series at Harris Field on Friday night (May 29).

The wild contest featured 13 runs and 19 hits through the first three innings, quite a contrast to the club’s two previous meetings in the Series. On Tuesday, Point Loma claimed a 2-1 victory, while on Thursday, Lubbock Christian captured a 5-1 win to force an extra game in the 10-team double-elimination tournament.

The first title for the Chaps (52-8) came in 1983 when they defeated Lewis-Clark State 11-9. Point Loma Nazarene (45-13) was seeking its first NAIA national title in any sport.

Friday’s contest featured 30 hits as six players for LCU and four for Point Loma had two or more hits in the game. Lubbock Christian also had four players with two or more RBI.

The Chaps appeared to be on their way to a big win on Friday when they scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning as Point Loma starter Chris Honer lasted only one-third of an inning. He gave up four hits and two walks, along with all five runs.

Blondin started the scoring in the inning with a two-run double, while a ground out made it 3-0. Rob Learned added an RBI single, while Jaime Armedariz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in his second at bat of the inning to make it 5-0.

It only took Point Loma two innings to tie it. Kaohi Downing was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force a run in during the second inning, while a two-run home run by Travis McCleary and an RBI double by Tyler Kuehl led to a four-run third inning to knot the score.

Lubbock Christian regained the lead for good in the bottom of the third with three runs on two hits. Stramp provided the big blow as the senior outfielder smacked a three-run home run to left field for an 8-5 lead. Stramp homered in three consecutive games and finished with tournament-bests of 10 RBI and nine runs scored, along with tying for the most home runs.

Point Loma answered with two runs in the top of the fourth to make it 8-7.  After Kurt Steinhauer walked, McCleary picked up his third RBI of the game with a double. Steven Winnick later singled in McCleary.

LCU, however, answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning for a 10-7 lead. Dan Neumann started the rally with a triple and scored on a double by Learned, who later scored on a sacrifice fly.

After taking nearly two hours to complete the first four innings, both teams finally found the pitching they needed and only two runs were scored over the final five innings.

Point Loma struck first with a run in the sixth to make it 10-8.  After an error, Kuehl hit a run-scoring double.

Lubbock Christian’s final run came in the eighth when Tanner Rindels was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by Blondin.

Stramp finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Blondin went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Neumann and Learned went 3-for-4 and Learned finished with two RBI as did Armendariz.

McCleary went 2-for-5 with two runs scored to go with his three RBI, while Winnick went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Kuehn went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

Charlie Aceto, the second of four LCU pitchers, picked up the win to improve to 7-0, but it was Shane Karnbach and Jakob Cunningham that held Point Loma to one hit over the final four innings. Cunningham pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his seventh save.

Brandon Dixon, the second of four Point Loma starters, took the loss to fall to 10-4. He allowed eight hits and five runs in 3.2 innings.

A crowd of 4,005 attended the game.