While we were remembering our loved ones who have departed, honoring fallen soldiers and sailors and kicking off the new summer season, Lee University knocked off the defending national champs as well as the host team which has been ranked No. 1 in every NAIA poll this baseball season.
After a walk-off home run to send Lubbock Christian (46-16) to the loser’s bracket, Coach Mark Brew’s crew got a four-hit shutout from Scott Swinson in an 8-0 victory well after midnight our time last night. The big lefty struck out 11 Lewis-Clark State (48-4) batters on their home field to go 11-0 on the season.
After a national runner-up finish in 2008 and a Final Four appearance last year, the fourth-ranked Flames are one of just two teams left without a loss in the national championship event.
After traveling more than 2,300 miles to play in their fourth straight Avista World Series, Lee (51-11) will now square off against instate rival Cumberland University (54-9) this evening at 10 our time in the winner’s bracket final.
When the Flames made the 165-mile trip to Lebanon to face the Bulldogs during the regular season a wild offensive explosion took place. The two potent offenses combined for 38 hits, including 10 home runs, nine doubles and a triple.
In a game that saw five lead changes and six ties, each team posted a seven-run rally in a single at bat (Lee in the top of the eighth, in response to the Bulldogs having just done the same in the bottom of the seventh).
Cumberland was able to pull out the 17-16 victory on April 6 thanks to a double to open the bottom of the ninth and a walk-off single from Matt Greener to end the 3-hour, 30-minute game. Lee has lost only once since that game and would love to exact a little revenge on the boys from Middle Tennessee tonight.
Tonight’s battle could be a repeat as the Bulldogs have knocked off their first two opponents in Idaho by a combined 17-2 score while the Flames have touched home plate 15 times in the same amount of innings.
The difference may come on the mound. In the first meeting the team’s went threw nine hurlers with the Flames starting a sophomore before bringing in a freshman.
Tonight Coach Brew has the option of giving the ball to unbeaten ace Matt Gilson, who threw 6 2/3 innings in the world series opener against Lubbock Friday, while the Bulldogs are unlikely to be able to bring back their ace, Justin Zinkovich (13-1) on two days rest after he tossed eight innings in a Saturday win over Embry-Riddle (Fla.).
Of course if these two extremely explosive offenses get cranked up it’s no tellin’ how many runs they can put on the board, no matter who is on the bump.
If you can watch the live stream on the internet, it will be well worth staying up late to see or if you’re like me I’ll have my radio tuned to WCLE 104.1 FM listening to my good friend George Starr describe the red-hot action, just like I used to do while I was growing up listening to the Braves and Bears.
