LEWISTON, Idaho
– Jay Prigmore scattered 10 hits and
struck out seven to help ninth-seeded
Houston Baptist University upset top
seed Azusa Pacific University 5-1 in
loser-out play at the 51st annual Avista
NAIA World Series at Lewis-Clark State
College’s Harris Field on Tuesday.
Houston
Baptist (43-20) was the last team to
receive a bid to the 10-team
double-elimination tournament but can
now do no worse than fourth place.
HBU, which lost its
opening game of the Series 18-4, bounced
back with its third consecutive win,
riding the arm of Prigmore
(7-5). The 6-foot 190-pound sophomore
allowed only a solo home run in the
bottom of the eighth inning against a
team that had been averaging 11 runs per
game over its last five games.
Prigmore also helped himself at the
plate. Hitting seventh in the lineup, he
went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
APU, which was ranked
second in the final NAIA poll, hurt
itself by leaving 11 runners stranded on
base. Its No. 3-4 hitters, catcher
Stephen Vogt and third baseman Scott
Hodsdon, were a combined 0-for-9 and
left five runners stranded. The Cougars
finish their season at 51-10.
Houston Baptist scored
solo runs in the second through fourth
innings to take a 3-0 lead off APU
starter Ryan Zaft (6-1).
In the second, Prigmore
helped himself with an RBI double after
Eric Schiro walked. In the third, a walk
and a single set up an RBI sacrifice fly
by Greg Gossett. Ryan Majewski’s RBI
single in the fourth made it 3-0.
The Huskies made it 5-0
in the sixth when Schiro led off with a
solo home run to left-center field.
Later in the inning, Chad Hebert added a
bases-loaded RBI sacrifice fly.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis finally
got Azusa Pacific on the board with a
two-out solo home run to right-center
field in the eighth. In the ninth, three
singles loaded the bases with two outs,
but Vogt lined out to center field to
end the game.
Zaft was touched for nine
hits and all five runs (four earned) in
5.1 innings. He also walked two and
struck out four. Christian Gagne pitched
two-thirds of an inning and allowed a
walk, while Brad Boekenstein finished up
for APU with three innings of hitless
ball. He struck out three.
Kory Johns added two hits
for HBU, while Grant Beyer went 3-for-4
for APU.
