Baseball | 05.14.2022

LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College will host the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Avista, May 16-19. The No. 5 Warriors are the top seed in the Lewiston bracket and will play in the program's first Opening Round tournament starting Monday.
 
As the top seed, LC State will play Monday night at 6 p.m. against the winner of fourth-seeded UBC and fifth-seeded Saint Katherine (Calif.). Also making the trip to Lewiston are No. 2 seed Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 3 seed Doane (Neb.). The Warriors have faced half of the field already, having swept the season series against UBC and defeated Vanguard in the first week of the season.
 
Tickets to the Opening Round tournament are on sale now at lcwarriors.com/tickets, and streaming packages can be purchased at lcwarriors.com/watch. The tournament is a double-elimination format with the winner advancing to the 2022 Avista NAIA World Series.
 
No. 5 LEWIS-CLARK STATE WARRIORS (51-4, 19-3) – No. 1 Seed
The Warriors of LC State won their second straight Cascade Conference regular-season and tournament titles this season and enter the national tournament as the No. 5 overall seed. The top seed in the Lewiston bracket, the Warriors are in the hunt for their 20^th national title.
 
LC State dominated the Cascade Conference this season with a record of 19-3. The Warriors swept through the conference tournament with wins over Corban and UBC. LC defeated UBC 15-7 in the CCC title game.
 
The Warriors have had a historic season thus far. With a 34-1 start to the season, LC got off to the best start in program history that included a program-best 28-game winning streak. The only losses on the schedule have been at the hands of Arizona Christian, College of Idaho and Corban (twice).
 
Sam Linscott is seventh in the NAIA in hits (87), eighth in runs scored (71). Justin Mazzone is seventh in doubles (24). On the mound, Trent Sellers is 10^th in the nation in ERA (1.75).
 
Sellers was tabbed the Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Year after leading the CCC in wins (11), ERA, opposing batting average (.179), innings pitched (87.1), and strikeouts (119).
 
Luke White, Riley Way, Linscott, Aidan Nagle, Sellers Dawson Day and Mazzone all earned All-Cascade Conference recognition as well. White led the CCC in home runs (17) and RBI (67), and was second in slugging (.667). Linscott led in stolen bases at a perfect 23-for-23.
 
As a team, LC State leads the NAIA in ERA (2.84). The Warriors are second in doubles (162) and strikeouts (556), third in RBI (499) and extra-base hits (259), fifth in runs scored (541) and fielding percentage (.972), sixth in hits (638) and total bases (1,080), and ninth in home runs (86) and slugging (.561).
 
No. 13 VANGUARD UNIVERSITY LIONS (CALIF.) (43-13, 23-9) – No. 2 Seed
The Lions of Vanguard University (Calif.) earned an at-large bid out of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) after finishing third in the conference.
 
LC State faced the Lions in the second game of the 2022 season and rolled past by a final of 16-3. After falling to Saint Katherine in the next contest, Vanguard won its next 16 games.
 
This is the second year in a row the Lions have advanced to the national tournament after traveling to Montgomery, Ala., last season for an Opening Round hosted by Faulkner (Ala.). It is the eighth national tournament overall for Vanguard who has advanced to the Avista NAIA World Series twice. The Lions have nine wins over ranked opponents this season.
 
Aki Buckson is seventh in the NAIA in stolen bases (37) and was voted the GSAC Player of the Year. In 52 regular season games, Buckson batted .348 with 12 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 41 RBI. He scored 52 runs and led the GSAC in stolen bases. He also posted a .455 on-base percentage and .567 slugging percentage.
 
Joe Johnson, Chad Sutton and Lucas Bixby joined Buckson on the all-conference team. In the regular season, Johnson hit .327 with team-best totals in hits (66), runs scored (56), home runs (13) and RBI (54). He also was successful in stealing 18 bases in 21 attempts.
 
As a team, Vanguard is sixth in the NAIA in stolen bases (152) and in fielding percentage (.972).
 
(RV) DOANE UNIVERSITY TIGERS (NEB.) (37-12, 24-4) – No. 3 Seed
The Doane University Tigers (Neb.) earned an automatic bid into the national tournament as the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular-season champions.
 
The Tigers got off to a slow start in February before going undefeated in the month of March (14-0). Doane fell twice to Jamestown (N.D.) in the GPAC tournament.
 
Doane dominated the GPAC awards with 12 all-conference selections. Joe Osborn was named the GPAC Player of the Year, Thaniel Trumper earned Pitcher of the Year accolades, and Andy Theiler, Julian Vargas and Lukas White all earned first-team honors. Other all-conference honorees included Justin Nevells, Nate Mensik, Jack Tillman, Drew Norsen, Jordan Wisner, Aaron Forrest and Kyler Beekman.
 
Osborn was named the GPAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in home runs with 18 while batting .348 with 71 runs scored, 57 RBI, and 18 stolen bases. He is eighth in the NAIA in doubles (71). Trumper was named the GPAC Pitcher of the Year after leading the conference with nine wins on the mound, all in relief. In 17 appearances, he has posted a 0.99 earned run average while limiting batters to a .148 batting average.
 
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA THUNDERBIRDS (29-24, 14-9) – No. 4 Seed
A familiar face in Lewiston, the UBC Thunderbirds fell to LC State in the Cascade Conference tournament title game but earned the conference's automatic bid with LC earning the host bid.
 
The Warriors swept the season series with UBC, taking the four regular-season matchups and two in the conference tournament.
 
UBC's Ty Penner, Noah Or and Brandon Hupe earned All-CCC recognition this season. Penner leads the Thunderbirds in batting average (.343), runs scored (40), doubles (15), home runs (10), RBI (45), slugging (.623) and on-base percentage (.450). Or is second on the team in batting average (.321) and on-base percentage (.426), while Hupe is tied with Penner with 10 home runs and is second in RBI (41) and doubles (14).
 
UNIVERSITY OF SAINT KATHERINE (CALIF.) (31-21, 17-10) – No. 5 Seed
University of Saint Katherine (Calif.) earned its second straight automatic bid into the national tournament as the Cal Pac Tournament Runner-Up. The Firebirds fell to Antelope Valley (Calif.) who earned an automatic bid as the regular-season champion.
 
USK defeated Vanguard early in the season, handing the Lions their second straight loss after falling to LC State, then went on to sweep a doubleheader with GSAC Champion Hope International (Calif.).
 
The Firebirds' Brady Ware was named the Cal Pac Player of the Year after leading the conference in home runs (14) and was fifth in runs batted in with 57.  For the season, he hit .355 with 30 extra base hits in 46 games. Johnny Lopez, Cody Rawson and Alonzo Castellanos earned all-conference honorable mention honors.
 
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