LEWISTON, Idaho – [BRACKET | SCHEDULE] The 65th Annual Avista-NAIA World Series began Friday at Harris Field with four games slated to be played. During the second contest of the day, a nearly five hour rain delay and subsequent precipitation during the restart caused a change to the tournament order.

GAME NOTES/HIGHLIGHTS

No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett (46-14) def. No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), 7-6

• First ever meeting between the Pioneers and Grizzlies
• Georgia Gwinnett is the riding a 15 game postseason win streak
• Noah Castillo’s blast in the top of the first recorded the first HR of tournament; Brycen Sherwood scored the first run of the Series
• Chase Evans got the Grizzlies on the board with an RBI ground out
• MNU one again built a two-run margin off a passed ball
• In the bottom of the second, GGC tallied six runs off a single, ground out, sac fly, and an error
• The Pioneers kept attacking with a RBI double from Ryan Leo in the seventh
• Castillo went yard for the second time in the game on a solo shot to cut it to a 7-5 score
• Josh Torrance knocked in another run in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly, but the tying run was left on the base paths.
• Ryan Fernandez and Leo were both 2-4 for MNU; Castillo was 2-3
• Jake Defries, Joshua Holt Jr., and Blaze O’Saben were 2-4 for the Grizzles
• Gavin Heltemes (W,8-1) went six and struck out five; Jonathan Haab recorded his third save
• Starter Zach Trevino (L, 10-4) allowed all seven runs in his two innings; Kristian Jurtado, Reece Helland, and Eric Navarette all struck out two batters each

No. 4 LSU Shreveport def. No. 5 Bellevue (Neb.), 8-4

• Elijah Johnson struck out four batters in the game becoming the second Bruin to record 150 or more in a single season
• After a 4 hour and 58 minute delay, due to rain and lightning, play resumed
• Two minutes into the restart, B. Davis of Bellevue hit a two-run shot to left center field
• In the next inning, Allbry Majors jacked a three run shot over the video board
• Austin McNicholas’ first RBI hit came in the sixth which scored a pair; two innings later he had a one RBI double down the line to make it 6-2
• Majors went yard once again, giving the Pilots a 8-2 edge
• Andrew Ishii brought the Bruins within four runs with a home run in the top of the ninth with two outs punched
• Pilots scored eight runs off eight hits, three from McNicholas
• Pledger McGrane (L, 10-4) was given the loss for giving up five runs after the restart
• Kevin Miranda (W, 13-1) tossed four innings and allowed only one run while striking out six

Updated Game Schedule

Saturday, May 28:
Game 3: Faulkner vs. Webber International – 10 a.m. PT
Game 4: Westmont vs. Lewis-Clark State – 1 p.m. PT
Game 5: Tennessee Wesleyan vs. Winner Game 3 – 4 p.m. PT
Game 6: Georgia Gwinnett vs. Southeastern – 7 p.m. PT

Sunday, May 29:
Game 7: MidAmerica Nazarene vs. Bellevue – 12 p.m. PT
Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 3 p.m. PT