Grenadiers' Historic Season Ends In NAIA World Series With Loss To Faulkner
LEWISTON, Idaho – The IU Southeast baseball team's historic run to the Avista NAIA World Series ended with a 14-10 loss to Faulkner University on Tuesday. At the start of play on Tuesday, the Grenadiers were one of just five teams remaining as they competed in their first NAIA World Series in school history.
The Eagles (40-11) opened the game with a four-run first inning but the Grenadiers answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
Clay Woeste led off the inning with a home run to left to get the Grenadiers on the board. The home run was his eighth of the season. Daunte DeCello singled and later scored on a groundout by Marco Romero.
Sam Anthony extended the Faulkner lead with a two-run home run to center in the top of the second.
But the Grenadiers answered right back in the bottom of the second. After two walks and a single by Jake Scott loaded the bases, Woeste grounded out to score Ben Berenda and a sacrifice fly by DeCello cut the lead to 6-4 after two innings.
Faulkner scored a pair of runs in the fourth but the Grenadiers chipped away with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie the game.
Clay Woeste doubled and later scored after a flyout by DeCello when the leftfielder made a wild throw into the dugout in the fourth.
In the fifth, Scott reached base on a strikeout when the pitch was wild and moved to third on an error. He scored on a groundout by Woeste. Daunte DeCello followed with a RBI single to score Tyler Mills.
IU Southeast tied the game when Derek Wagner led off the sixth with a double to left-center and scored on a RBI single by Scott up the middle.
The Eagles took the lead for good with a five-run seventh inning. The big blow came when Sam Anthony hit a three-run home run to center, his sixth home run of the year and second of the game.
After the Eagles scored another run in the top of the eighth, the Grenadiers tried to mount a comeback with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Jake Scott hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Wagner and Drew Hensley doubled to score Brandon Boxer.
Daunte DeCello finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Clay Woeste had two hits, drove in three and scored twice and Jake Scott was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Woeste led the Grenadiers with a .412 batting average in the World Series and four of his seven hits were extra-base hits.
The Grenadiers set the school record for wins in a season with 50 and advanced to their first NAIA World Series in program history, winning two games in the process. They should earn their highest ranking in program history in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll later this month.
