Three home runs key 10-5 win in loser-out play

LEWISTON, Idaho – Leadoff hitter Ryan Majewski hit a pair of home runs and scored four times to help Houston Baptist University remain alive in the 51^st annual Avista NAIA World Series with a 10-5 win over Walsh University in a loser-out game on Monday. 

The start of the contest was delayed an hour because of rain, but the later start had little effect on Majewski, who clobbered the game’s fourth pitch for a home run. 

HBU (42-20) hit three home runs early in the contest to take a 5-0 lead after two innings. The lead was as big as 9-0 in the seventh before HBU starting pitcher Matt Weible ran out of gas and Walsh (29-30) made things interesting. Weible made it to the ninth before being replaced. He gave up 12 hits and three earned runs. He also struck out five and walked one. 

HBU grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning. After Majewski’s home run,  Greg Gossett singled and Andrew Taccolini hit a two-run home run to left field. 

A couple of errors hurt Walsh in the second inning as two throwing errors and a wild pitch helped HBU to a 5-0 lead. 

Majewski made it 6-0 in the fifth when he again led off the inning with a home run. He finished 3-for-3 in the contest with two RBI and four runs scored. 

Michael Crabtree’s three run double in the seventh made it 9-0. 

Walsh picked up its first run in the seventh on an RBI single by Mark Kelly, but HBU countered with a run in the top of the eighth when Majewski doubled and scored on a single by Chad Hebert. 

Walsh picked up three runs in the eighth when Greg Miller doubled in two runs and scored on a single by Mike Suliks. A double steal allowed Walsh to score a run in the ninth. 

Gossett finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored for HBU, while Hebert was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Kade Klick went 3-for-5 with a run scored for Walsh, while Suliks went 3-for-4 with an RBI. 

Houston Baptist, making its first appearance in the Series as was Walsh, moves on in the tournament to play at either 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. on Tuesday in another loser-out game. Pairings for Tuesday won’t be completely set until the final game on Monday.