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LEWISTON, Idaho – The Memorial Day finale at Harris Field in Lewiston lived up to every bit of its billing, Monday night, as LSU Shreveport (La.) continued its historic run, at 56-0, beating defending national champion Hope International (Calif.), 6-3, in the top side of the bracket at the 2025 Avista NAIA World Series.
Draven Zeigler moved to 13-0 on the mound for LSUS, tossing the first seven innings and striking out 10. Ian Montz was an offensive catalyst for the Pilots, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs in the ninth inning that added insurance to the win.
Brock Lucas entered to start the eighth, pitching that inning and the ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.
The loss ended a nine-game winning streak for Hope International at Harris Field, falling to 47-9, getting a 2-for-3 outing from Branden Chun-Ming, as well as two RBIs by Trotter Boston, who put Hope International on the board in the bottom of the second. The ball hopped over the first baseman into right field, scoring Chun-Ming and Matthew Pinal, but LSUS answered immediately, scoring runs on three consecutive doubles by Diego Aragon, Josh Gibson and Vantrel Reed.
Gibson was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.
The next inning, for LSUS, Jose Sallorin laced a one-out double down the line in right and came home a batter later, on Aragon’s second hit. Julian Francois, the Hope International second baseman, got leather on the ball but couldn’t make the catch, and the ball trickled into right field to give the Pilots a 3-2 lead.
Hope International scored again with Boston at the plate, grounding to second, but Chun-Ming advancing caused traffic for the second baseman. The ball got away, scoring Francois.
In the sixth, LSUS took advantage of a leadoff triple by Montz that banged off the wall in right, and Montz went the remaining 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt and RBI by Aragon, returning the lead to the Pilots, 4-3. Aragon had two RBIs in the game, going 2-for-3.
The lead stuck, and LSU Shreveport moved to Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m. PT, meeting the winner between Georgia Gwinnett and Southeastern (Fla.). Hope International falls to 3 p.m. PT, Tuesday, an elimination game against Cumberlands (Ky.), and both air on the NAIA Network and Urban Edge Network at www.naia.org/watch.
Wednesday, LSUS will attempt to the all-time, all-levels record for consecutive victories (57).
