LEWISTON, Idaho — Southeast Tennessee neighbors Tennessee Wesleyan and Lee University are the last teams without a loss in the 2012 NAIA World Series, after both won Monday over Oklahoma schools.
Fourth-seeded Wesleyan edged ninth seed Rogers State 8-6 before No. 2 seed Lee jumped to a six-run lead in three innings on the way to a 7-3 victory over third seed Oklahoma City. The Tennessee schools are scheduled to meet at 9:30 EDT tonight, after Point Park faces Rogers State and LSU Shreveport meets OCU in elimination games.
Top-seeded Shreveport put host Lewis-Clark State out of the tournament with a 7-3 win Monday on a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Wesleyan (50-11) then recorded its 16th win in a row, largely on the strength of a five-run fourth inning that included an RBI double by Dale Ricketts and run-scoring singles by Thomas Sicking and Travis Burnside. Anthony Boix and Stephen Branca were hit back to back by pitches, bringing in a fourth run, and an error on a Jake Stone grounder made it 6-1.
Doubles to left field by Boix and Stone with a Branca bunt hit in between gave TWC a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jordan Guida homered in the fifth to provide a 7-1 margin for starting pitcher Josh Culler (10-2), who gave up a grand slam to Randy Ramirez in the sixth. Rogers State (47-15) closed to within 7-6 in the seventh on Hector Rivera’s second hit of the game, but Guida singled in the seventh, stole second and scored on Ricketts’ single.