[Baseball] Baseball Wins Opening Round Over No. 14 Lions
Doane Baseball opened the 2022 NAIA National Championship Opening Round, presented by Avista, in Lewiston, Idaho, on Monday afternoon with a 3-1 win over No. 14 Vanguard (Calif.). The victory was the first NAIA win since 2012 for the Tigers, snapping a five-game skid in opening round play.
The Tigers have overcome adversity throughout the year, especially on the mound where injuries and illness have been the biggest challenge. Monday's opening game would be no different as Doane would have to go to the bullpen on the second batter of the game as Tiger starter Jordan Wisner (SR/Anaheim Hills, Calif.) was injured on a pitch.
Kyler Beekman (SO/Elkhorn, Neb.) would come in and retire the batter he inherited at the plate, thus crediting Wisner with two recorded outs, and then induced a flyout to end the inning.
Doane's offense came alive in the 2nd inning as the first three batters of the inning reached. Nate Mensik (SO/Pleasant Dale, Neb.) started the inning with a single and he came around to score on an RBI-double by Jack Tillman (JR/Omaha, Neb.). James Griess (FR/Sutton, Neb.) entered as the courtesy runner and scored on an RBI-double by Justin Nevells (FR/Chugiak, Alaska). A sacrifice bunt by Luke LaChance (SO/Littleton, Colo.) and an RBI-ground out from Cristian Yanez (FR/Mexico City, Mexico) gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Tiger pitching would be challenged over the next eight innings, having to work around several jams. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Lions would strand two runners on base. Vanguard scored their only run of the game in the 3rd inning with a leadoff home run. The Lions would add three more hits in the inning but had a runner cutdown as LaChance knocked down an infield hit and threw to the plate to pick up an out.
Beekman would allow one baserunner in the 4th inning and closed out his outing with 3.1 innings pitched. Aaron Forrest (SO/Peoria, Ariz.) took over in the 5th inning for the Tigers and would take the team to the 9th inning. He would have to work around the Lions offense right out of the gate following a hit batter and a walk. Forrest struck out the next batter, then picked up an infield fly and a foul out to escape the danger.
Vanguard would load the bases in the 6th inning before a ground out to LaChance ended the inning. The 7th inning would be the easiest for the Tigers, retiring the Lions in order. In the 8th inning, Vanguard opened with a single. Doane nearly turned a double play, nabbing the lead runner. On the next batter, a line drive to Lukas White (JR/Castaic, Calif.) was caught and he turned around to tag the runner returning to first for a double play.
The Tiger offense was held in check after the 2nd inning but put together a couple of threats in the final two innings. Doane left two runners on base in both the 8th and 9th innings, missing out on opportunities to extend their lead.
In the 9th, Forrest retired the leadoff hitter only to hit a batter on a ball in the dirt and allowed a walk to put two runners on base. Thaniel Trumper (SO/Fort Collins, Colo.) came in and gave up an infield single to load the bases with one out. Trumper followed with a strikeout and a ground out to LaChance to end the ball game and record his fourth save of the season. The save was the 11th of Trumper's career, tying the school record for career saves. Forrest picked up the win, his fourth of the season.
Doane was out-hit in the game by the Lions, 9-8. Nevells led the Tigers with a 2-for-4 effort. Seven players had hits in the game for Doane.
On Tuesday, Doane will face the winner of Lewis-Clark State and British Columbia, which is taking place on Monday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 PM (2:30 PM PST).