GAME 17: LSUS makes history

May 30—On Wednesday they tied it.

On Thursday, the LSU Shreveport Pilots stood all alone on top of the history books with their 58th straight victory, the most consecutive wins at any level of college baseball.

From their perspective, they're not done yet.

"It's all about tomorrow," LSUS coach Brad Neffendorf said.

After a "slow start" by LSUS (58-0) standards, the Pilots rode a dynamic outing from starting pitcher Cobe Reeves and a 3-for-5, four RBI night from leadoff man Ryan Davenport to a 14-4 victory over Hope International (Calif.) in the 17th game of the Avista NAIA World Series on Thursday at Harris Field in Lewiston.

The win made history and gave the Pilots the opportunity to play for what would be the first NAIA national championship in school history.

The top-seeded Pilots will face the No. 6 Southeastern Fire at 6:30 p.m. today. If the Pilots win, they'll claim the NAIA red banner; if Southeastern wins, the two teams would meet again on Saturday.

Hope International's season is over. The Royals arrived in Lewiston as the defending national champions, having fought through the losers' bracket to claim the title last season. LSUS' history-making pursuit stood in their way as the Royals lost 6-3 to the Pilots on Monday and fell by 10 runs on Thursday.

It took LSUS an inning longer than the prior day to warm up the bats, but once they were warm, there was little stopping them.

Ian Montz walked, Anthony Swenda doubled and shortstop Jose Sallorin put the Pilots on the board with a two-run single in the second.

The Pilots took their 2-0 lead and never gave it back, although Hope International certainly tried.

The Royals' Kyle Harvey and Matthew Pinal slapped back-to-back singles to lead off the second, then Trotter Boston and Colby Moran drew consecutive walks to cut LSUS' lead in half and make it 2-1.

With one out and the bases loaded, the Pilots' Reeves struck out Mario Tostado swinging.

One pitch later, Reeves induced Amari Bartee into a grounder, lunging to his right to glove the ball and fling it to first to end what was a bases-loaded, one out jam with just one run conceded.

Reeves, who transferred to LSUS this past year from the Pilots' championship-foe Southeastern (Fla.), had not pitched since May 14 in the Opening Round when he lasted just four innings.

With the weight of history and the scenic sky of Lewiston peering down on him, Reeves stayed calm, working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second and getting himself out of several other runners-on sequences throughout the game.

"There was no doubt in my mind that I was just gonna go out there and do what I do," Reeves said. "Throw the pitches, make the pitches, make them nasty and get the strikeouts."

Reeves allowed four runs (two earned) off of eight hits and three walks over 5ž innings. The senior hurler struck out nine.

Neffendorf said Reeves has the stuff to pitch at the next level.

"Cobe Reeves is a wild animal in a good way," Neffendorf said. "His positives can become his weakness at times, but his positives worked out a little bit more on the positive side today than weakness. So that's a huge start for us. It's what we needed."

Despite being a part of the Fire's World Series roster last season, this was Reeves first time pitching in Lewiston.

The Pilots backed up Reeves' stellar start with a five-run third inning.

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LSUS third baseman Josh Gibson picked up right where he left off on Wednesday with a double deep to left-center field followed by an Austin Gomm single.

The two came around to score on an Ian Montz two-run single. The Pilots kept the pressure on with a Diego Aragon bases-loaded walk to put LSUS up 5-1 and force Hope International starter Josh Landry out of the game.

Davenport greeted Hope International's new pitcher with a left-field, two-RBI single to make it 7-1 LSUS.

The lone sophomore on the Pilots' roster was everything they needed and more at the top of the order, reaching base three times and racking up four RBI and a run scored.

The biggest questions facing the Pilots after their record-breaking 58th straight win?

How on Earth are they going to sleep tonight?

"I have been every night since we've been here," Neffendorf said. "I don't have nothing to worry about with this team. We're gonna show up, we're gonna play, we're gonna compete, we're gonna execute, we'll see how it works at the end of the game.

"Our guys don't worry. So why should we?"

LSUS 025 000 412—14 13 2

Hope Intl. 010 003 000—4 9 2

Reeves, Schechter (6), Meinderts (7), Hankins (9) and Aragon; Landry, Jong (3), Tilton (4), Ward (7), Sato (7), Herrada (8), Seeley (9) and Tostado.

W — Reeves; L — Landry.

LSUS hits — Davenport 3, Gibson 3 (2B), Swenda 2 (2B), Montz 2, Gomm, Sallorin, Aragon.

Hope Intl. hits — Shackleford 2, Harvey 2, Boston 2, Pinal, Moran, Bartee.

Attendance — 1,470.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.

Stars of the game

Senior LSUS starter Cobe Reeves secured his Pilots a date with Southeastern, his former team, by striking out nine over 5 2/3 innings.

LSUS sophomore right fielder Ryan Davenport provided the juice at the top of the order with three hits, four RBI and a run scored.

LSUS third baseman Josh Gibson followed up Davenport's three booms, with three bams of his own, doubling and accounting for an RBI and run scored.

Quote of note

"You don't realize it or process it until you're in the moment, and then you're like, 'Wow, 58 games in, and then now we're in the chip, and that's the only thing we're looking forward to. But no doubt in our mind that we're gonna go win it." — LSUS starting pitcher Cobe Reeves after the Pilots punched their ticket to play for the NAIA national title.