LEWISTON, Idaho – [BRACKET | SCHEDULE | CHAMPIONSHIP APP] The first four games are in the books as three of the four lower seeded teams advanced in the winner’s bracket on Friday in day one of the 2021 Avista NAIA World Series. LSU Shreveport (La.) led things off with an offensive explosion of 10 runs and was the lone team to reach double-digit run totals on the day. The lone shutout came in the nightcap as Faulkner (Ala.) ended a streak of over 300 games for the hometown Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) Warriors of not suffering a shutout.

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

No. 9 LSU Shreveport (La.) def. No. 8 Kesier (Fla.) 10-3

• Keiser led the game with a quick lead after plating runs in both the first and the second.
• LSU Shreveport answered in the fifth with a five-run inning to take the lead for good.
• Carlos Pineyro led-off the inning with a triple and came around to score on Taylor Fajardo’s RBI single to make it a 2-1 Keiser lead.
• Ryan Major tied the game on an RBI single to short.
• Payton Robertson blew the game wide open a batter later. The senior second baseman belted a three-run home run, his eighth of the year, to give the Pilots a 5-2 lead.
• LSU Shreveport tacked-on two more runs an inning later on the way to a 10-3 win.

No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett def. No. 4 Oklahoma Wesleyan 9-6

• Cody Muncy gave Oklahoma Wesleyan an early 1-0 lead in the first with his 27^th home run of the year.
• Georgia Gwinnett answered in the third. Chase Evans singled to lead-off and came around to score two batters later on an Austin Bates RBI single to tie it at one.
• In the fifth, the Grizzlies took the lead on a two-run home run by Griffin Keller, his 17^th of the season.
• Hunter Dollander retired 12 in a row from the beginning in the second inning all the way through one out in the sixth. The senior tossed 8.1 innings and earned the win to move to 11-1 on the year.
• After it was all said and done, Georgia Gwinnett cranked three home runs in the game.
• Down 9-1, Oklahoma Wesleyan put together a five-run bottom of the ninth in a comeback bid, but fell just short.
• The Eagles scored five runs on five hits in the final half-inning of the game.
• Georgia Gwinnett designated hitter Livingston Morris went 3-5 with five RBI in the contest. The junior finished the day a triple shy of the cycle.

No. 7 IU Southeast (Ind.) def. No. 10 Concordia (Neb.) 4-2

• The Grenadiers broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Brandon Boxer scored on a groundout to third to take a 1-0 lead.
• IU Southeast extended its lead to two an inning later. Clay Woeste took advantage of a fielding error to score from second to give his team a 2-0 lead.
• On a 2-0 count with one away in the bottom of the seventh, Marco Romero gave his team a pair of critical insurance runs. The right fielder hit his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot, to give the Grenadiers a 4-0 lead.
• Concordia (Neb.) got on the board in the top of the eighth. Ben Berg laced a two-run single up the middle to cut the Bulldog deficit in half.
• IU Southeast collected its first World Series win in program history.

No. 6 Faulkner (Ala.) def. No. 3 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 4-0

• Faulkner jumped-out in front of a loud Lewiston crowd with a solo home run from Issac Phillips, his fourth of the year, to make it 1-0 in the second inning.
• The Eagles extended it to 2-0 later in the second on an RBI single from Justin Lara to left-center.
• Faulkner wrapped-up the scoring in the same inning with a sacrifice fly from Sam Anthony to make it 3-0.
• In the top of the eighth, Shawn Ross finished the scoring for the Eagles. The junior sent a towering drive over the green wall to straight-away center to give Faulkner a 4-0 lead.
• Antonio Frias was as-advertised and had another in a line of impressive outings in 2021. The senior lefty improved to 12-0 on the year and now has 26 career wins for the Eagles.
• Frias went eight full innings and allowed no runs on six hits with 13 strikeouts.
• Tonight’s contest marks the first time in 325 games, dating back to 2015, since the Warriors have been shut out.

COVERAGE

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