LEWISTON, Idaho—Three wins separate Southeastern from becoming the first repeat champion of the Avista NAIA World Series since host Lewis-Clark State did it in 2017.
Southeastern faces Westmont, which is 3-0 this week at 6:35 p.m. Pacific on ESPN 3. Lewis-Clark State takes on William Carey in the preceding contest.
The Fire bounced back with a 6-4 win in an elimination game against Indiana Wesleyan Tuesday afternoon to advance to the semifinal round of the 66
th annual tournament.
David Castillo was 3-for-4 with a solo homer and a walk to jump start the offense which has hit just .272 through three games in Lewiston.
Adonys Herrera picked up his second and third RBIs of the season yesterday and now leads the team in batting average during the 12 postseason games at .465.
On the mound,
Reece Wissinger has a win and a save in his two appearances, punching out 10 and walking one in four innings of work.
Westmont sits at 46-8 on the season and has won its last 12 games this season. In Lewiston, the third-seeded Warriors defeated the University of the Cumberlands 7-3 on Friday, Taylor 15-9 on Monday, and came back to beat William Carey 7-3 yesterday.
The top three in the Westmont lineup were 4-for-11 with three RBIs and drew three walks with just one strikeout. Second baseman Brady Reneck is part of that group and leads the team in batting average at .413 and is second in RBIs with 50. The senior is on an eight-game hit streak and has struck out just 11 times in 230 at bats.
The pitching staff has a 3.75 ERA with 402 strikeouts in 449.1 innings.
The matchups for the balance of the tournament will be determined by the tournament committee, but it is likely that Southeastern will be playing again tomorrow against either William Carey or again versus Westmont pending the outcome of the first game of the day.
