Avista NAIA World Series Preview: Tennessee Wesleyan

Avista NAIA World Series
Live Video
Live Stats

LEWISTON, Idaho -- The Bellevue University baseball team, after eliminating MidAmerica Nazarene 5-4 on Sunday, looks to extend their season on Monday morning in another elimination game. The Bruins face Tennessee Wesleyan for an 8:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. Central) start.

Bellevue is making their 15^th appearance in the World Series, and third under head coach Duane Monlux (2016, 2019).

The 65^th annual event takes place May 27-June 3 at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho for the 17^th-consecutive season and 25^th time overall.

The World Series is a 10-team, double-elimination tournament with the winner being crowned either June 2 or June 3.

Comprising the tournament field are 10 teams. In seeded order, they are; Southeastern (Fla.), Tennessee Wesleyan, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), LSU Shreveport, Bellevue, Westmont (Calif.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), and Webber International (Fla.).

Stretch Internet will be broadcasting the first 15 games of the 2016 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. Day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-World Series ticket is available for $34.95. Games played June 1-3 are going to be delivered on ESPN3.

Friday's Match-Up:

Bellevue (48-12, 25-2 NSAA) rolled through the regular-season, winning the NSAA title by 8.5 games before going on to sweep their way through the NSAA Tournament, out-scoring their opposition 38-2 behind four complete games by their pitching staff. As the top seed in the Opening Round Bellevue Bracket, BU defeated Judson and Tabor behind two more complete game efforts to reach the championship round. After falling to Concordia, the Bruins won a winner-take-all game over the Bulldogs, 5-2, to reach their 15^th Avista NAIA World Series.

Tennessee Wesleyan (54-7, 27-3 AAC) swept both the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles to secure an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The top-seed in the Kingsport Opening Round Bracket, TWU won their first two games before being taken down by Cumberlands. In the "If Necessary" Game, the Bulldogs defeated Cumberlands 7-5 to advance to the program's sixth Avista NAIA World Series.

Last Time Out:

Bellevue survived and advanced, defeating MidAmerica Nazarene by a score of 5-4 in Sunday's elimination game. Alec Ackerman and Brenton Davis each went 3-for-4 at the dish and scored a pair of runs. Leading 4-3, Alex Stufft (2-3, 2 RBI) brought home Davis with a suicide squeeze for an insurance run. Alexandro Celiceo (8-1) turned in a quality start, allowing three runs in 6.1 innings, and Elijah Johnson recorded his second save of the season with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Tennessee Wesleyan lost their World Series opener to Faulkner, 7-4. The Eagles scored first and led 5-0 after six innings behind ace J.C. Toro. Zach Hogueisson put TWU on the board with a two-run seventh inning homer. Livan Reinoso homered to left in the eighth to make it a two run game but Jordan Funk got that run back in the ninth for Faulkner with a solo shot of his own. TWU brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but Parker Stinnett struck out to end the threat.

Notes:

• Bellevue and Tennessee Wesleyan have met just once before, exactly six years ago to the day. TWU defeated the Bruins 9-3 in a winner's bracket game during the 2016 World Series.
• In their previous 14 NAIA World Series appearances, BU has racked up 22 victories, winning the 1995 National Championship, finishing runner-up in 1997, and recording a third place finish in 2016.
• The Bruins are 7-8 all-time in their World Series opener. It's worth noting that the Bruins lost their opener in 1995 and bounced back to win five-straight elimination games to claim the school's only National Championship in any sport. For their efforts, the 1995 Bellevue Baseball team was inducted into the BU Athletics Hall of Fame back in 2018.
• In their past two trips to the World Series, BU has gone 4-2 in elimination games en route to third (2016) and fifth (2019) place finishes.
• Bellevue is 2-0 in elimination games this season, defeating Concordia 5-2 in the "If Necessary" Game during the Opening Round and MidAmerica Nazarene 5-4 on Sunday.
• Bellevue's Kanta Kobayashi leads the NAIA in hits with 106 while Elijah Johnson leads the NAIA with 153 strikeouts.
• With their win over MNU, Bellevue avoids their first 0-2 showing at the Avista NAIA World Series since 2004, a span of six appearances.

Probable Starting Lineups:

#5 Bellevue - .348 AVG, 9.1 RPG, 105 HR // 3.89 Team ERA, 9.66 K/9

• CF - Kanta Kobayashi (.438/1.150, 31 XBH, 42 RBI) NSAA Newcomer of the Year
• RF - Conner Barnett (.393/1.091, 27 XBH, 57 RBI) First team all-NSAA
• SS - Alec Ackerman (.380/1.158, 37 XBH, 72 RBI) NSAA Player of the Year
• C - Brenton Davis (.392/1.268, 27 XBH, 53 RBI) First team all-NSAA
• LF - Mathieu Sirois (.299/.958, 20 XBH, 48 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
• 1B - Alex Stufft (.323/.979, 23 XBH, 45 RBI) First team all-NSAA
• 2B - Josh Vaughan (.349/.909, 15 XBH, 29 RBI) First team all-NSAA
• DH - Andrew Ishii (.350/1.061, 22 XBH, 42 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
• 3B - Zach Diehl (.262/.769, 20 XBH, 44 RBI) Second team all-NSAA
• SP - TBA

#2 Tennessee Wesleyan - .338 AVG, x.x RPG, 107 HR // x.xx Team ERA, x.xx K/9

• LF - Carson Ford (.265/.916, 24 XBH, 48 RBI)
• RF - Cayle Webster (.335/.954 OPS, 24 XBH, 50 RBI)
• 3B - Livan Reinoso (.421/1.428, 53 XBH, 94 RBI)
• 2B - Parker Stinnett (.362/1.034, 27 XBH, 58 RBI)
• C - Braxton Turner (.393/1.078, 20 XBH, 44 RBI)
• DH - Zach Hogueisson (.369/1.158, 37 XBH, 65 RBI)
• 1B - Evan Magill (.342/.969, 22 XBH, 49 RBI)
• SS - Dan Sayre (.320/.898, 32 XBH, 48 RBI)
• CF - Jermayne Ward (.295/.755, 16 XBH, 43 RBI)
• LHP - Robert Gonzalez (9-3, 3.35 ERA, 87 SO)

What's Next?:

The winner of the Bellevue-TWU stays alive to play another elimination game at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31 against an opponent to be determined by the World Series Games Committee. The loser is eliminated.

Avista-NAIA World Series | Harris Field | Lewiston, Idaho

Monday Schedule (Note: all times Pacific):

Game 9: No. 2 Tennessee Wesleyan vs. No. 5 Bellevue, 8:30 a.m.
Game 10: No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett vs. No. 10 Webber International, 11:30 p.m.
Game 11: No. 1 Southeastern vs. No. 4 LSU Shreveport, 3 p.m.
Game 12: No. 3 Lewis-Clark State vs. No. 7 Faulkner, 6 p.m.