LCU Hits the Road
By: Rhett Kleinschmidt
Updated: May 5, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – The NAIA Region VI baseball championships
happen starting Tuesday at Jim Wade Stadium on the campus of Oklahoma City
University.
Top-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas), fourth-ranked Oklahoma
City, No. 12 Wayland Baptist (Texas) and No. 18 Texas Wesleyan are among the
teams vying for the regional title and the right to play in the NAIA Mid-South
Super Regional. Sooner Athletic Conference tournament finalist Oklahoma Baptist
and Red River Athletic Conference tournament runner-up Northwood (Texas) round
out the field.
Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament
champ Lubbock Christian (50-2) will be led by SAC coach of the year Nathan
Blackwood. Junior third baseman Will Stramp has hit .420 with 21 home runs and
74 RBIs, while all-SAC junior pitcher Gary Poynter has gone 13-1 with a 2.72
earned run average for the Chaparrals. Lubbock Christian meets Northwood at 11
a.m. Tuesday.
OCU (49-10) will be led by all-SAC junior third baseman Brent
Weaver, who has a .439 average, 23 homers and 81 RBIs, and senior first baseman
David Dennis, who has hit .399 with 24 homers and 94 RBIs. Junior all-conference
left-hander David Odquist leads the Stars pitching staff with 10 wins to go with
92 strikeouts. OCU takes on Texas Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Wayland Baptist (43-14-1) boasts of junior all-SAC
outfielder-pitcher Todd Jeffress, who has nine home runs and 36 RBIs as a hitter
and an 11-4 record and 3.10 ERA as a hurler. Wayland Baptist faces Oklahoma
Baptist at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Texas Wesleyan (40-14) will be led by all-Red River junior
shortstop Butch Ballez, who has a hit .430 with nine homers and 59
RBIs.
Oklahoma Baptist (43-14) has SAC player of the year Justin
Collazo as its ring leader. Collazo, a junior first baseman, has hit .433 with
22 homers and 100 RBIs.
Red River tournament champ Northwood (26-23) is led by senior
outfielder Justin Parks, who has hit .363 with nine homers and 53
RBIs.
The title game will be 1 p.m. Friday at Jim Wade Stadium. An
if-necessary game would be following that game.
The Region VI champion will meet the Region V champ in the
Mid-South Super Regional on May 15-17. The Mid-South Super Regional will be at
the home field of the Region VI champ. The winner of the best-two-out-of-three
series super regional will advance to the NAIA World Series on May 23-30 in
Lewiston, Idaho.
NAIA Region VI Baseball Championships
At Oklahoma City
Jim Wade Stadium
Tuesday’s Games
Game 1: Lubbock Christian (Texas) vs. Northwood
(Texas), 11 a.m.
Game 2: Oklahoma City vs. Texas Wesleyan, 2:30
p.m.
Game 3: Oklahoma Baptist vs. Wayland Baptist (Texas),
6 p.m.
Wednesday’s Games
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11
a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 2:30
p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 6
p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 11
a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30
p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 6
p.m.
Friday’s Games
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 1 p.m.,
championship
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10, 4:30 p.m.,
if necessary
(courtesy: Oklahoma City University)
