ANALYSIS: Lewis-Clark State baseball to face new and familiar foes in Opening Round
May 11—For the Lewis-Clark State baseball team, its road to the Avista NAIA World Series will have to go through teams ranging from all-too-familiar to total question marks.
Oklahoma City, British Columbia, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Arizona Christian will join the Warriors in the Lewiston bracket of the NAIA Opening Round, presented by Avista, starting Monday at Harris Field.
The field is an interesting mix: one conference champion (Embry-Riddle), two ranked teams (No. 5 Lewis-Clark State and No. 21 Oklahoma City) and two at-large selections (Arizona Christian and British Columbia).
Embry-Riddle will play British Columbia at 11 a.m. on Monday, Oklahoma City will play Arizona Christian at 2:30 p.m. Monday, and the winner between UBC and Embry-Riddle will play Lewis-Clark State at 6:00 p.m. Monday.
Here's a breakdown of each team ahead of the Opening Round:
No. 1 Lewis-Clark State Warriors
Record: 37-11
Lewis-Clark State has been guaranteed an Opening Round spot the longest out of any team in its bracket. Even with its spot in the postseason confirmed, it didn't mean the team was immune to some disappointing results.
The Warriors most recently went 2-2 in the Cascade Conference tournament. Their two losses came by a combined score of 21-7, both to the eventual champion Bushnell Beacons.
LCSC wasn't at full strength going into or coming out of the postseason tourney. Senior outfielder Nick Seamons played designated hitter instead of his usual left field due to a lingering back injury.
But the Warriors aren't a team that makes excuses and they have confidence against anyone they play, especially at Harris Field.
LCSC was playing its best baseball going into the postseason tournament and is 6-1 against ranked teams this season — defeating Tennessee Wesleyan, Bellevue, Southeastern and LSU Shreveport. All of those teams are in the Opening Round.
At its best, LCSC has an elite offense, two of the best starters in the Opening Round and great relievers in the top of its rotation.
It's just a matter of regaining the form it showed before the Cascade Conference tournament.
No. 2 Oklahoma City
Record: 35-16
The Oklahoma City Stars have a long history in the NAIA postseason.
The 2005 World Series champions have made the Opening Round seven of the last eight years (the 2020 postseason was canceled due to COVID-19) and made the World Series in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.
For the last six years, the Stars have been on the cusp of returning to Lewiston. They're looking to clear that hurdle this year.
OKC has faced a lot of high-end competition this season. Outside of its conference, it's played Freed-Hardeman, Missouri Baptist, Central Methodist, Bellevue, Concordia (Neb.), MidAmerica Nazarene, Doane and Oklahoma Wesleyan. In Sooner Athletic Conference play, the Stars have faced Mid-America Christian, Southwestern Assemblies of God and Science & Arts (Okla.). All of those teams are either ranked, have been ranked or received votes.
OKC is battle-tested, and its players are all the better for it.
The Rams have two great power hitters: Trent Kiraly is batting .374 on the year with 19 home runs and 59 RBI, and Chad Pike is hitting .328 with 15 home runs. OKC also has an elite baserunner in Aiden Alexander (18 steals in 22 attempts).
Pike has also given the Rams some quality innings on the mound (1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings).
OKC's top two starters, Kade Shatwell and Andrew Limbaugh, have a 2.94 and 3.36 ERA, respectively, and are holding opposing batters to a collective .219 average.
The Rams are the most well-rounded team in the Lewiston Opening Round, aside from LCSC. Like the Warriors, they've faced some legitimate World Series contenders. A collision between the two squads is the most interesting game on paper. But OKC will have to get through the No. 3 seed first.
No. 3 Arizona Christian
Record: 33-19
The Arizona Christian Firestorm played through and survived one of the most competitive conferences in the NAIA, the Golden State Athletic Conference. The GSAC sent four teams, including ACU, into the Opening Round and six of the seven teams in the conference were either ranked or received votes at varying points this season.
The Firestorm had to turn on the heat to get to where they are now. ACU went 18-3 in its final 21 regular-season games after opening the year 14-14.
The Firestorm's run was spurred by one of the most consistent lineups one could get.
Eight players with a minimum of 100 at-bats have hit at an average of .313 or above and six have hit at a .330 clip or above.
One of those batters, Marques Titialli, is in the midst of rewriting ACU's record books. The senior outfielder is hitting .373 this season with 22 home runs and 75 RBI. Titialli has set school records in career home runs, career RBI, single-season RBI and single-season home runs.
The pitching hasn't always been there for the Firestorm. They have one hurler with a sub-4.00 ERA (minimum of 15 appearances).
This led to a lot of shootouts with their conference foes, especially Jessup.
The Firestorm's offense has carried them through this latter stretch of the season and will look to continue to lift ACU all the way to the World Series.
No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
Record: 29-18
The name "Embry-Riddle" is familiar to those that have been following the World Series for a while. That one is in Florida. This one is in Arizona.
This version of the Eagles are just in their third year of existence as a baseball program, and are making their first appearance in the Opening Round. Embry-Riddle accomplished this feat by having its first winning season and first Cal-Pac conference title in team history.
The Eagles have a highly potent offense that helped lead the way in their season of firsts. Senior infielder Drew Barragan has an NAIA-leading 93 RBI with 16 home runs while hitting at a .455 clip. Embry-Riddle's other .400 hitter, senior outfielder Travis Strickler, has 80 hits, 50 RBI and 26 steals on the year in 30 attempts.
The Eagles' pitching staff is an almost 50/50 balance between underclassmen and upperclassmen. Embry-Riddle has been on the wrong end of several offensive performances this year, but a lot of that has to do with inexperience more than outright inability. And more often than not, teams play their best in the postseason. The Eagles have five pitchers with a minimum of 13 appearances this year who have an over-10.00 K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings pitched).
Embry-Riddle is the biggest question mark of the Lewiston bracket of the Opening Round. It's a young team making its first appearance in the national tournament. But it also has several players with jump-off-the-page numbers who could potentially take over the game in the right situations.
Postseason baseball has been ground zero for the beginning of a lot of cinderella runs in year's past. A couple of years ago, Webber International completed its own underdog run to the World Series.
The Eagles have a lot of time until midnight and will look to make the most of it.
No. 5 British Columbia
Record: 31-19
The British Columbia Thunderbirds should consider Harris Field their home away from home at this point.
The Thunderbirds are no strangers to the Warriors or Lewiston. Monday will be the eighth game UBC has played at Harris Field this season. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, they haven't had favorable results when making the trek down to Lewiston.
UBC is 1-6 this season at Harris Field — including a 1-2 record in the Cascade Conference tournament and a 0-4 record against LCSC this season in Lewiston.
The Thunderbirds have six batters with a minimum of 100 at-bats who are hitting over .300. Their top closer, Ryan Heppner, returned to the fold during the Cascade Conference tournament — making his first appearance since March 16.
UBC's biggest problem has been finding consistency.
It went 3-0 against No. 8 (and GSAC champions) Hope International this season, but dropped two games to Embry-Riddle. It won the overall series against the eventual Cascade Champions Bushnell 7-2, but went 2-12 this season in games against LCSC and Oregon Tech.
If the Thunderbirds can play up to their talent, they're dangerous. But this season, that's proven to be a big "if."
Final word
This year's Lewiston bracket is one of the most interesting in the Opening Round.
The Warriors will not take any opponent lightly, especially after the conference tournament.
There are many factors at play that make this bracket hard to predict: Embry-Riddle's total inexperience, Arizona Christian's general inexperience, UBC's flummoxing season to this point and LCSC's 26-year World Series streak.
The Warriors will be the favorite in almost any game they play at Harris Field, at least up to the World Series.
But looking at all of the teams in the Lewiston bracket, things look like they could get interesting.
Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.
