The Lindenwood Lions (43-10) will play host to the NAIA Opening round Championships this week. The Lions play on campus at Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles. Although the Lions are hosting the tournament, they will be the number two seed and Campbellsville University(35-9), ranked eighth in the latest national poll, will be the number one seed.
The other teams that will round out the five team field are Kansas Wesleyan(38-15), William Penn(35-15) and Dakota Wesleyan(35-16). The winner of the double-elimination tournament will advance to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
The lions are getting hot right now, winning 23 of their last 24 games, and although I will sound like a complete homer right now, I think that LU's pitching depth could be too deep late in the tournament. Senior Kyle Boschert was just named HAAC pitcher of the year after compiling a 9-1 record. Senior Don Anderson is another draft-worthy starter, and I think that Chris Peters is the key to the entire starting rotation. Not to mention the strength of the bullpen, which is paced by former Mizzou closer Steve Mohr, who is an absolute freak. Partner this with SLU transfer Chris Merrick, a 6'6" submarine tosser with an absolutely dirty slider, and I think that the lions are the sexy pick to win the the regional.
But the lions have been getting offensive production up and down the lineup as well. Senior catcher Zane Chavez led the HAAC this year with a .422 average, and 6 other hitters garnered all-conference accolades of some sort. The biggest thing that I see with them is that they get production from all over the lineup. Cristobal Rodriguez is hitting ninth and has an average of over .300.
My click to pick in the playoffs for Lindenwood is outfielder Colin Crouthamel who just hit a walk off home run to give the lions the HAAC title over William Jewell, and is hitting over .300 with double-digit home runs this year. He is locked in at the plate right now, and I think some big hits are coming his way this week.
Realistically, the only two teams that are deep enough to win this tournament are LU and Campbellsville. the Tigers are paced offensively by senior Brian Chase. Chase is hitting .483 with 16 long balls. CU has 4 everyday players hitting over .400, but they don't run well, stealing only 47 bases all year as a team. On the mound they are led by the two headed monster of Ian Pick and Marc Wilson, who are a combined 13-0 on the mound this year.
Tournament admission is free and is all day from Tuesday to Friday.
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