All four higher seeds advanced in the winner’s bracket on Day 1 of the 68th Avista NAIA World Series Friday at Lewiston’s Harris Field.
In the first game of the day, #4 seed and defending national champion Hope International, California scored 5 runs in the 8th inning to defeat Cumberlands, Kentucky 10-4. Trotter Boston collected 3 hits and drove in 3 runs in the victory.
Top seed and undefeated Louisiana State-Shreveport stayed unbeaten with a 6-3 win over Grand View, Iowa in Game 2. Austin Gomm, Jackson Syring and Diego Aragon all homered for the Pilots, who improved to 55-0.
#3 seed Tennessee Wesleyan downed first time qualifier Loyola, Louisiana 7-3 in Game 3. Daniel Stewart had two hits and 2 runs-batted-in and Blake Peyton threw 7 solid innings for the Bulldogs.
#2 seed Georgia Gwinnett pounded out 15 hits in beating the University of British Columbia 11-1 in 8 innings in Game 4. Alex Harrell had four hits, including a homerun offensively, and Ben Harris dominated on the mound with 12 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings for the Grizzlies.
Three games are on the schedule for Saturday, beginning with #5 seed Webber International, Florida and #6 seed Southeastern, Florida at 11 a.m., followed by a pair of elimination contests. Cumberlands and Grand View will play at 3 p.m. before British Columbia meets Loyola at 6:30 p.m.
All games are streamed free online here and all final games each day are also broadcast locally on 95.5 FM and AM 950 KOZE radio.
