The East/West challenge is finally coming to life! Over 4 days between Lakeland and Auburndale, Florida, 8 of the top small college baseball programs in the country will battle it out in an East vs West matchup. Those representatives making the trip from the west include: Arizona Christian (GSAC), Vanguard (GSAC), BenU-Mesa (CalPac), and Lewis-Clark State (CCC). The East will be represented by reigning national champion Southeastern (SUN), St. Thomas (SUN), Keiser (SUN), and LSU-Shreveport (RRAC).
The games begin on February 1st when Arizona Christian and Southeastern meet to open the challenge, and will conclude on February 4th when Keiser takes on Lewis-Clark State Saturday at 2:30pm eastern. We have included the full tournament schedule below all of the team previews.
WEST-
Arizona Christian- 4-0 (2023)
Arizona Christian (ACU) opened the year off with a bang, the ACU offense put up 53 runs in 4 games. The offensive slugfest included a team average of .387, 58 hits, 16 doubles, and 95 total bases in the first weekend of the year. Joe McDonald’s club put up 10-plus runs in 3 of the 4 games, including a 4-2 win over #12 MidAmerica Nazarene (KS).
The Challenge for ACU- will be keeping that offensive production, or at least a part of it, while seeing a different slew of arms, who arguably might be some of the best they will see this year. Outfielder Justin Ramirez (NAIA Ball hitter of the week) went 13-16 in a special week 1, so he’s the bat to keep an eye on. Pitching wise, the team will want to limit walks. Look for juniors Adrian Santa Cruz and Eli Elliot to be two of the front line starters for ACU.
Vanguard (CA)- 3-0 (2023)
Vanguard (CA) faced off with Westcliff (CA) in the first weekend of the year, and the Lions outscored Westcliff 22-2 in the series. While 2 of 3 games of the series were played tightly the offense did enough to support its staff and hit over a team average of .320. Pitching for the Lions looked fantastic in week 1, striking out 33 in 25 innings and just walking nine batters the whole weekend. Vanguard’s (CA) schedule does them no favors, after the challenge, they will face an up-and-coming Southwest Assemblies of God (TX) team making strides, then Arizona Christian in the first weekend of GSAC play.
The Challenge for VU- Pitching will take center stage for the Lions, and we will see if those arms can silence the bats of the East. Senior Dylan McDonald (NAIA Ball pitcher of the week) was phenomenal in a 7ip complete game shutout with 14 punch outs on 75 total pitches, with 66 finding the zone.
Benedictine-Mesa (AZ)- 3-1 (2023)
BenU-Mesa (AZ) starts 2023 with a 3-1 record and a top 25 win over #24 Taylor. The lone loss came from a late surge of runs by the College of Idaho in the final three innings of their contest this weekend. Overall BenU-Mesa (AZ) is experienced from a 30+ win team in 2022 they return a total of 25 players into 2023.
The Challenge for BenU-Mesa- Outfielder Orlando Lorduy is one of a few good bats to watch this year for the RedHawks. Lourdy had 90+ hits in 2022 with 60+ runs batted in a career where he’s been All-CalPac twice. Third baseman Kevin Fitzgerald also returns after hitting for a .379avg, 68 runs batted in, and 7 home runs in 2022. The bats will have to stay potent and let that big middle of the order do damage to find success.
Lewis-Clark State (ID)- 58-7 (2022)
The Warriors will travel to an eastern time zone for the first time since March of 2017, when they played 5 games in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Trips to the east coast are not a regular thing for the Warriors, who since 2009 have traveled east just one other time in 2013, to Daytona Beach, FL. LCSC is 5-5 in its last two trips out to the east coast. There are 24 returners on the squad from last year’s national runner-up team that won 58 games last season, with several well experienced transfers entering the fold. I expect this LCSC team to be highly competitive in the 2023 campaign. The lineup for LCSC will likely look completely different from last season, but fully expect the pitching side to be well deeper than the last several years.
The Challenge for LCSC- While the lineup will have a different feel, outfielder Isaiah Thomas brings attention to the order. Thomas hit for an average over .300 in 96 career games at Vanderbilt, with 98 hits, 20 home runs, and 63 runs batted in. Seeing how this offense gels as they start to play opponents will be the main point of emphasis. Obviously the Warriors will have plenty of talent, and they be tested from the start of the 2023 season.
EAST-
Southeastern (FL)- 59-4 (2022)
The reigning national champion Fire have arguably one of the if not the toughest non- conference schedule in the nation. They will face 4 of the best the west coast has to offer in the East/West Challenge first, then a week later they will travel to Sterlington, Louisiana, to play in the Cajun Collision presented by NAIA Ball. After that, it’s right into a 3 game series with a ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan squad back in Lakeland, FL. You can also add Bellevue (NE), Point Park (PA), St. Francis (IL), and NCAA D2 powerhouse University of Tampa to that list. The Fire also have the privilege of playing in the Sun Conference, which has been the premier conference at this level for several years running. The Fire will be tested all season long, and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond in a year long trek.
The Challenge for SEU- The Fire are looking to reload for 2023 while still having plenty of experienced offense to rely on in the bats of senior Isaac Nunez and junior Gary Lora. On the mound, SEU returns one of the nation’s premier arms in junior LHP Robb Adams. What the challenge is for SEU will be filling in the gaps from last years team and managing through a grueling slate starting with the East/West challenge. Lots of new names and faces will be expected to step in and step up in Lakeland.
St. Thomas (FL)- 41-19 (2022)
At the time of writing and releasing this, the Bobcats will be opening their season with Keiser in 2023. After that, it is fully into the East/West Challenge for the first weekend series of the year for the Bobcats. Their schedule also does them no favors with appearances from Reinhardt (GA), Loyola (LA), Bellevue (NE), Concordia (NE), and St. Ambrose (IA). STU has been looking for that final push to get over the hump and crown itself national champions. Jorge Perez’s team will have a mix of returning lettermen and incoming transfers who will try and take on that goal for the Bobcats.
The Challenge for STU- Returning infielders Christopher Schoeller and Robin Fernandez are the two big returning bats who will be looked upon to keep this lineup moving with the experience they bring to the table. On the mound, last year’s team had a 4.44 earned run average in 60 games played. Crosby Bringhurst will be the main returning arm for the Bobcats, and it’ll be interesting to see how this rotation and the usually solid bullpen shake out for STU.
Keiser (FL)- 1-2 (2023)
The boys from the Palm Beaches played a tightly contested series to open the year with Brewton-Parker (GA). BPC ultimately took the series with two 1-run victories and, a big start to the year for them. Keiser (FL) will also get a tune-up game with in-conference rival St. Thomas (FL) beforehand. Last season, Keiser was 35-22 and returns 17 lettermen from that squad. While the losses from last season are not large in number, they are large in production. Tim Bouchard who basically had his name written in each season for the ‘All-NAIA Ball’ team has graduated and hit .404avg with 18 homeruns. Since the 2010s, Keiser has had some special talent, and Tim Bouchard deserves to be recognized along with greats like Keivan Burgess, Steven Bruce, and Pablo Arevalo. But that’s just the KU part of me speaking out loud. There will be a great need for new faces to have a high level of play this year.
The Challenge for KU- Keiser hit just .210avg as a team in the first series. On top of that, in 28 innings of baseball, the team had two 10+ strikeout games. The offense will need to find some consistency away from home, the team didn’t have issues scoring runs, but I’m sure the strikeout issues will be addressed. On the mound, KU gave up runs late in 2 games that eventually led to losses. The challenge will be to make solid that end off game scenario bullpen against some very talented programs.
LSU-Shreveport- 53-8 (2022)
LSUS was rained out of its opening weekend campaign start, but they will give themselves a test on the road to Florida with a stop to play the Rams of Mobile on Tuesday night. After that, the next opponent for the Pilots is LCSC in the first game of the East/West Challenge for both teams. Brad Neffendorf led the Pilots to their first 50+ win season since 2012, when Rocke Musgraves led that team to 54 wins. Since 2011, the Pilots have won the regular season or tournament title in every single year (In 2013, Northwood-TX won the regular season title despite what the RRAC site says; I would know because I was there). Shreveport wants to buy land for a home in the Pacific Northwest and this team has the makings of strong returners who made deep impacts last year, and incoming transfers who were difference makers at their previous institutions. This team has all the makings of a ballclub that could do something special, and that’s going to be exciting to watch.
The Challenge for LSUS- There will be some gaps in the lineup that’ll need to be addressed, but we really wont know more till we see this offense against live pitching. As far as rotation goes Bobby Vath was a certified ace last year, and this team comes with one thing not everyone can say… experienced high leverage bullpen arms. There aren’t many of those nationally and that could be a difference maker for the Pilots
EAST/WEST CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
Lakeland, FL & Auburndale, FL (Lake Myrtle). All times Eastern
Wednesday 2/1 6pm Arizona Christian vs Southeastern (FL) in Lakeland
Thursday 2/2 1pm LSUS vs Lewis-Clark State (ID) in Lake Myrtle
Thursday 2/2 4pm St. Thomas (FL) vs Vanguard (CA) in Lake Myrtle
Thursday 2/2 4pm Arizona Christian vs Keiser (FL) in Lake Myrtle
Thursday 2/2 6pm BenU-Mesa (AZ) vs Southeastern (FL) in Lakeland
Friday 2/3 11am LSUS vs BenU-Mesa (AZ) in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 11am Keiser (FL) vs Vanguard (CA) in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 11am Lewis-Clark State (ID) vs St. Thomas (FL) in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 3pm BenU-Mesa (AZ) vs Keiser (FL) in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 3pm Vanguard (CA) vs LSUS in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 3pm St. Thomas (FL) vs Arizona Christian in Lake Myrtle
Friday 2/3 4pm Lewis-Clark State (ID) vs Southeastern (FL) in Lakeland
Saturday 2/4 11am Vanguard (CA) vs Southeastern (FL) in Lakeland
Saturday 2/4 11am BenU-Mesa (AZ) vs St. Thomas (FL) in Lake Myrtle
Saturday 2/4 11am Arizona Christian vs LSUS in Lake Myrtle
Saturday 2/4 2:30pm Keiser (FL) vs LEwis-Clark State (ID) in Lake Myrtle
Enjoy the games!
- Robby Gutierrez