Chaps LEEp Into Championship Game

LEWISTON, Idaho (June 3, 2011) – Austin Stewart went 3-for-4 with four runs-batted-in and hit his first home run of the season to help LCU score 10 unanswered runs and eliminate Lee University (Tenn.) 10-2 to advance to Friday night’s 9 p.m. (CDT) championship game of the 2011 Avista NAIA World Series.

Lee jumped on the scoreboard first in the second inning with Jonathan Clark and Joe Ramirez connecting with back-to-back two-out singles with the bases loaded to score a pair of runs and provide the Flames a 2-0 lead.  The Chaps answered in the third inning with Matt Cordova hitting a single up the middle to start a three-hit inning and Nate Peterson’s two run single followed Ryan Burnaman’s double to left field to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Flames committed a pair of errors in the fourth inning and a pair of wild pitches by pitcher Maxx Catapano allowed Dominic Piazza to advance around to score and give LCU their first lead at 3-2.  Stewart hit a double to highlight the inning, which also included an RBI-double by Burnaman and a single by Nate Peterson to extend the LCU lead to 6-2. In the fifth inning, Stewart crushed his first home run of the season, hitting a two-run blast over the Harris Field scoreboard in right field.  Stewart also drove in a run with a single in the seventh inning before the Chaps closed their scoring with Richard Bohlken singling in Burnaman in the eighth inning to mark the first team in the 2011 NAIA World Series to score at least 10 runs.

Tyler Curtis (10-3) replaced LCU starting pitcher Tyler Rogers in the fourth inning and pitched 4.1 scoreless innings.  Shane Ingram also pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the ninth inning for the Chaps.  Catapano (9-5) suffered the loss for Lee allowing five runs (two earned) in three innings pitched.

LCU out-hit Lee 13-8 and Stewart and Burnaman each went 3-for-4.  Peterson and David Cruz each had two hits for the Chaps.  Seth Walker went 2-for-3 for Lee in the losing cause.

Lee (51-14) finishes in third place at the NAIA World Series for a second time in the past three years.  They finished in third in 2009 and in second place last season.  LCU moves into the championship game with a 50-13 record and it will mark their third appearance in the NAIA title game.  The Chaparrals won the title in 1983 and 2009.  It will mark their first ever meeting against No.9 Concordia University, who is unranked with a 42-19 record and seeking to complete a Cinderella story by capturing their first NAIA title in program history.