DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 2011 NAIA Baseball National
Championship Opening Round kicks off Thursday, May 12 at nine sites across the
nation. Five-team pods at each of the nine sites will compete in a
double-elimination tournament that will ultimately decide the nine squads that
will join Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho for the Avista-NAIA World Series
from May 27-June 3.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is one of the nine host
sites, and the Eagles will be joined by Brewton-Parker (Ga.), Campbellsville
(Ky.), William Carey (Miss.) and Edward Waters (Fla.).
No. 1 Embry-Riddle Eagles
The Eagles enter the national tournament as one of nine, No.
1 seeds, as well as claiming the No. 1 ranking in the country. ERAU earned an
automatic berth into the 45-team tournament thanks to their 24-3 record in The
Sun Conference regular season, claiming their fourth consecutive title. The
Eagles also won their third straight Sun Conference tournament crown, sweeping
through the six-team event, with all four of their wins by at least seven runs.
The Blue and Gold has compiled a 47-9 overall mark, thanks
in large part to their balance of solid pitching, hitting and fielding. The
Eagles put together winning streaks of 13 and 14 during the course of the year,
and have currently won 23 of their last 25 games.
Embry-Riddle placed 10 players on the All-Sun Conference
team, including seven on the first team and three on the second team. The
Eagles also captured the Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Coach of
the Year awards.
Offensively, the Eagles are hitting .313 as a team, scoring
400 runs on 580 hits and 364 RBIs. ERAU is slugging .447 with an on-base
percentage of .408 and have drawn more walks (261) than strikeouts (249).
Sun Conference Player of the Year, Steve Sabins leads his
team with a .391 average from the plate. The third baseman has collected 84
hits in 56 games, 30 of which have gone from extra bases. He has driven in 55
runs while scoring 54 himself and is slugging an impressive .619.
Shortstop Ben Kline is close behind Sabins, the junior from
Omaha, Neb. is hitting .360 with 77 hits and 55 RBIs. His 19 doubles and eight
home runs ranks first on ERAU's team.
Designated hitter Keaton Stroud, along with first baseman
Chris Page, are hitting .386 and .306 respectively. The first team
All-Conference performers have combined for 118 hits, 74 RBIs and 68 runs.
The pitching staff for ERAU boasts an ERA of 3.15 in 480.1
innings of work. The Eagles have shutout 11 opponents and allow an average of
just 3.64 runs to score per game. Opponents are managing .250 against the
Eagles while striking out 354 times.
Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, Tucker Jensen, leads the
Eagles with a 1.92 ERA and 12-1 overall record. Jensen has thrown five complete
games, including three shutouts and one combined shutout. The senior is
allowing teams to hit just .204 against him while striking out 75 batters on
the season.
Ryan Vigue has an ERA of 2.98 in 108.2 innings, his 102-15
strikeout to walk ratio is one of the best in the country. Vigue has three
complete games, two shutouts and one combined shutout.
ERAU's third weekend starter, Kevin Maloney, has a 3.23 ERA
and a perfect 9-0 record. Maloney has tossed 78.0 innings thus far, giving up
28 earned runs in 14 appearances.
The Eagle bullpen is led by 2010 second team All-American
and 2011 Preseason All-American Phillip Reamy. Reamy is second in the country
with 14 saves, setting the ERAU single season mark as well as breaking the
Embry-Riddle program record with 24 career saves. Reamy has an ERA of 3.34 with
a 2-1 record in 35.0 innings.
Coach Randy Stegall has taken his team to the Avista-NAIA
World Series each of his three years at the helm of the Embry-Riddle program.
Stegall has a career record of 251-105-1 (six seasons), and a record of 182-60
(four seasons) at Embry-Riddle.
No. 2 Brewton-Parker Barons
Head Coach Greg Mullins brings his Barons team into the NAIA
National Championship for the fourth time in school history. The Barons have a
6-4 record in the national tournament and claimed the 1997 National
Championship.
BPC put together a 35-16 overall record and a 13-5 mark in
the Southern States Athletic Conference, finishing second in the East division.
The Barons placed two players on the All-Division team in the SSAC.
Brewton-Parker has outscored their opponents 365-197 over
the course of the season. BPC is averaging .318 from the plate with a .488
slugging percentage and .397 on-base mark.
Errick Fox leads the Barons with a .371 batting average. Fox
has 48 hits, 23 RBIs in 48 games. Josh Palmer averages .355 at the dish
(61-for-172), has driven in 39 runs with a slugging percentage of .506.
Robert Harris and Jacob Evors provide much of the power to
the BPC lineup. The two have hit 25 homers between them and have combined for
210 total bases.
Brewton-Parker's team ERA is 3.95 in 394.2 innings while
opponents are hitting .255 against them. BPC has 13 shutouts and seven saves on
the year.
The trio of Daniel Jones, Drew Parker and Daniel Miller make
up the Barons starting rotation. Jones is 6-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 86.1 innings.
He has struck out 93 batters and walked just 24.
Parker is 9-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 22 games, 11 of those have
been starts. Parker's opponents are hitting .282 against him, and he has 58 Ks
in 76.0 innings of work.
Miller rounds out the BPC starters, he has a 4.58 ERA and
6-3 overall record. Miller has thrown 78.2 innings and has struck out 79
batters.
Coach Mullins is 101-58 at Brewton-Parker.
No. 3 Campbellsville Tigers
Coach Beauford Sanders leads his Tigers team into Daytona
Beach with a 32-19 record in 2011 after they captured their third straight
Mid-South Conference baseball title with an 18-6 conference mark. Sanders, who
has put together a 640-443 record at Campbellsville was named the MSC Coach of
the Year.
The Tigers rely on strong pitching and timely hitting to win
most games. Their team ERA is 3.28 in 51 contests, while their offense is
hitting .290 on the year.
Michael Durham (.344) and Gabriel Arcoleo (.322) lead the
Tigers offensively. Durham and Arcoleo have combined for 92 hits, 61 RBIs and
108 total bases.
Aaron Schwoebel is hitting .333 with 34 hits, 16 RBIs and 19
runs scored, while Craig Edward is averaging .318 with 42 hits and 32 RBIs.
The Tigers' slugging percentage is .392 and their team
on-base mark is .379. Campbellsville has outscored its' opponents 267-188, and
has 242 RBIs on the season.
Rusty Devitt leads Campbellsville's starters with a 1.94 ERA
and 5-2 record. Devitt has thrown 69.2 innings with 84 strikeouts and just 18
walks. Opponents are managing just .200 against him and have scored just 15
earned runs in 2011.
Michael McBride's 2.25 ERA and 6-3 record put him second
amongst Tigers's starters. McBride has allowed 15 earned runs in 60.0 innings
while fanning 46 batters.
The final CU starter is Sean Bouthilette. Bouthilette has an
ERA of 3.78 and a record of 5-4. He has three complete games in 52.1 innings.
No. 4 William Carey Crusaders
Head Coach Bobby Halford had his team get hot at the right
time. The Crusaders won four games in the SSAC tournament and finished as the
runner-up to claim an automatic bid into the NAIA National Championship. WC was
just 7-11 during the conference season, but claimed wins over Lee (Tenn.),
Faulkner (Ala.), Shorter (Ga.) and Brewton-Parker (Ga.) before falling to
Belhaven (Miss.) in the title game.
William Carey's offense is hitting .290 with 287 RBIs on 518
hits over the course of 55 games in 2011. The Cruaders are outscoring their
opponents 333-276 and have a slugging percentage of .415.
Javier Ortiz leads the team in batting average with .349.
Ortiz has 74 hits, 36 RBIs and 113 total bases with a slugging percentage of
.533. He also leads the team in runs scored with 43.
Carlos Castro (.336) has collected 46 hits, 34 RBIs and 21
runs scored in 2011. The player driving in most of the runs for WC is catcher
Quin Stokes. Stokes has 54 RBIs on 54 hits, including 16 doubles and 11 home
runs.
Collectively, the Crusaders' pitchers have a 4.35 ERA in
434.0 innings. Opponents are averaging .256 against them while WC has struck
out 349 batters.
Starting pitcher Scotty Reese has a 3.43 ERA and 5-6 overall
record in 12 starts. Reese has thrown 76.o innings with 54 strikeouts and 18
walks. Opponents are hitting .247 against him.
Cory Williams has started 12 games for William Carey and has
a 5.20 ERA with a 4-5 record. Williams has thrown 62.1 innings with 54 Ks.
Coach Halford has compiled a 895-540 record at William
Carey, and they are making their fourth appearance in the NAIA National
Championships. The Crusaders won it all in 1969.
No. 5 Edward Waters Tigers
The EWC Tigers are making their first-ever trip to the NAIA
National Championship Opening Round after earning an automatic bid with a pair
of wins over Fisher (Mass.) in the Unaffiliated Group #2 - Sunrise/Gulf Coast
Tournament.
The Tigers come into the tournament with a 33-24 record
under Head Coach Kerby Marshall.
EWC is hitting .307 as a team with 220 RBIs and a .399
slugging percentage. The Tigers have stolen 54 bases on the year, with JaJuan Lee
leading the way with 14. Lee is also leading the team in batting average with a
.405 mark.
Catcher Luis Serrano is hitting .392 with 32 RBIs and 47
runs scored on 71 hits. He has a .475 slugging percentage and a .451 on-base
percentage in 53 games.
Jacoby Beckham and Michael Hernandez are hitting .347 and
.332 respectively for Edward Waters. The two have 110 hits and 35 RBIs between
them while scoring 73 runs.
The EWC pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.85 in 57 games
and 401.0 innings. The Tigers have allowed 216 earned runs while striking out
271 opponents.
Follow all of the tournament action at our tournament home page, HERE.
