Avista NAIA World Series Preview: MidAmerica Nazarene
May 28, 2022

Avista NAIA World Series Preview: MidAmerica Nazarene

5th-seeded Bellevue and 9th-seeded MidAmerica Nazarene face off on Sunday at noon (2 p.m. CT) in an elimination game at the 65th Avista NAIA World Series

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LEWISTON, Idaho -- The Bellevue University baseball team, after an 8-4 defeat to LSU Shreveport on Friday, finds their season on the line for the second time this season. The Bruins look to extend their season on Sunday afternoon in an elimination game against MidAmerica Nazarene with noon local time (2 p.m. Central) the scheduled start time.

Bellevue is making their 15th appearance in the World Series, and third under head coach Duane Monlux (2016, 2019).

The 65th annual event takes place May 27-June 3 at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho for the 17th-consecutive season and 25th time overall.

The World Series is a 10-team, double-elimination tournament with the winner being crowned either June 2 or June 3.

Comprising the tournament field are 10 teams. In seeded order, they are; Southeastern (Fla.), Tennessee Wesleyan, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), LSU Shreveport, Bellevue, Westmont (Calif.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), and Webber International (Fla.).

Stretch Internet will be broadcasting the first 15 games of the 2016 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. Day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-World Series ticket is available for $34.95. Games played June 1-3 are going to be delivered on ESPN3.

Friday's Match-Up:

Bellevue (48-12, 25-2 NSAA) rolled through the regular-season, winning the NSAA title by 8.5 games before going on to sweep their way through the NSAA Tournament, out-scoring their opposition 38-2 behind four complete games by their pitching staff. As the top seed in the Opening Round Bellevue Bracket, BU defeated Judson and Tabor behind two more complete game efforts to reach the championship round. After falling to Concordia, the Bruins won a winner-take-all game over the Bulldogs, 5-2, to reach their 15th Avista NAIA World Series.

MidAmerica Nazarene (39-17, 26-6 HEART) won the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular-season title to secure an automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament before going on to finish runner-up in the conference tournament. The No. 3-seed in the Oklahoma City Bracket, MNU swept through the tournament defeating Freed-Hardeman 7-6 and upending top-seeded Oklahoma City twice (6-5, 9-5) to earn the program's first-ever trip to the Avista NAIA World Series.

Last Time Out:

Bellevue dropped their World Series opener 8-4 to LSU Shreveport. Brenton Davis and Andrew Ishii provided the offense with a pair of 2-run homers. Weather over-shadowed much of the on-field play as a 5-hour rain delay and steady flow of precipitation upon resumption played a role in the game story. Bruin right-hander Elijah Johnson became just the second Bruin to punch out 150-plus batters in a season. Allbry Major (former Big East Rookie of the Year) homered twice and drove in five runs for LSUS and Austin McNicholas knocked in three more runs for the Pilots who deployed both of their All-American pitching candidates to defeat the Bruins.

MidAmerica Nazarene jumped out to an early lead over defending National Champion Georgia Gwinnett but a six-run second inning powered the Grizzlies to a 7-6 win over the Pioneers. Noah Castillo homered twice and the MNU bullpen combined to toss six scoreless innings of relief to keep the offense in the game.

Notes:

  • Bellevue and MidAmerica Nazarene have split their four previous meetings, from 2012-16. The Bruins defeated MNU in both 2012 and 2013 while the Pioneers picked up wins in 2014 and 2016.
  • In their previous 14 NAIA World Series appearances, BU has racked up 22 victories, winning the 1995 National Championship, finishing runner-up in 1997, and recording a third place finish in 2016.
  • The Bruins are 7-8 all-time in their World Series opener. It's worth noting that the Bruins lost their opener in 1995 and bounced back to win five-straight elimination games to claim the school's only National Championship in any sport. For their efforts, the 1995 Bellevue Baseball team was inducted into the BU Athletics Hall of Fame back in 2018.
  • In their past two trips to the World Series, BU has gone 4-2 in elimination games en route to third (2016) and fifth (2019) place finishes.
  • Bellevue is 1-0 in elimination games this season, defeating Concordia 5-2 in the "If Necessary" Game during the Opening Round.
  • The Bruins and MNU were both participants during the 2021 NAIA Opening Round Bellevue Bracket but did not meet on the diamond.
  • Bellevue's Kanta Kobayashi leads the NAIA in hits with 105 while Elijah Johnson leads the NAIA with 151 strikeouts.

Probable Starting Lineups:

#5 Bellevue - .349 AVG, 9.2 RPG, 104 HR // 3.89 Team ERA, 9.73 K/9

  • CF - Kanta Kobayashi (.443/1.157, 30 XBH, 42 RBI) NSAA Newcomer of the Year
  • RF - Conner Barnett (.403/1.115, 27 XBH, 57 RBI) First team all-NSAA
  • SS - Alec Ackerman (.373/1.154, 37 XBH, 71 RBI) NSAA Player of the Year
  • C - Brenton Davis (.383/1.265, 26 XBH, 51 RBI) First team all-NSAA
  • LF - Mathieu Sirois (.311/.988, 20 XBH, 48 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
  • 1B - Alex Stufft (.305/.974, 23 XBH, 43 RBI) First team all-NSAA
  • 2B - Josh Vaughan (.352/.919, 15 XBH, 29 RBI) First team all-NSAA
  • DH - Andrew Ishii (.357/1.078, 22 XBH, 42 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
  • 3B - Zach Diehl (.265/.775, 20 XBH, 44 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
  • LHP - Blake Crippen (11-3, 3.28, 62 SO) First team all-NSAA ... OR
  • RHP - Alexandro Celiceo (7-1, 3.58 ERA, 72 SO) Honorable mention all-NSAA

#9 MidAmerica Nazarene - .329 AVG, 7.8 RPG, 74 HR // 4.85 Team ERA, 9.98 K/9

  • LF - Drew Woodley (.309/.977, 23 XBH, 26 RBI)
  • SS - Brycen Sherwood (.335/1.074, 30 XBH, 40 RBI)
  • DH - Noah Castillo (.381/1.049, 17 XBH, 49 RBI)
  • C - Joshuan Sandoval (.300/1.045, 27 XBH, 50 RBI)
  • 3B - Dionathan Cornett (.319/.939, 20 XBH, 52 RBI)
  • 2B - Randy Fernandez (.365/.933, 20 XBH, 49 RBI)
  • RF - Josh Torrance (.376/1.008, 20 XBH, 41 RBI)
  • CF - Ryan Leo (.346/.903, 23 XBH, 49 RBI)
  • 1B - Frank Vogel (.292/835, 11 XBH, 16 RBI)
  • LHP - Kristian Hurtado (7-3, 4.42 ERA, 63 SO)

What's Next?:

The winner of the Bellevue-MNU stays alive to play another elimination game at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30 against the loser of Saturday's game between Tennessee Wesleyan and Faulkner. The loser is eliminated.

Avista-NAIA World Series | Harris Field | Lewiston, Idaho

Sunday Schedule (Note: all times Pacific):

Game 7: No. 5 Bellevue vs. No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene, noon
Game 8: Game 4 Loser vs. No. 10 Webber International, 3 p.m.