Hope International is the 2024 NAIA World Series National Champion after 14-6 win over Tennessee Wesleyan | More Spokane Sports

LEWISTON, Idaho — The Hope International Royals won their first NAIA World Series after an impressive 14-6 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan in the championship game at Harris Field.

In the first half, you could tell both teams were fighting for the NAIA World Series title.

The Bulldogs opened with an impressive two runs in the first, but the Royals weren’t ready to be down in this game as JJ Cruz hit a homer to right field to take a 3-2 lead. But that wasn’t the only homer of the inning. Alec Arnone hit his second of the night to get a solid two-run lead over the Bulldogs.

But it was also an exciting second inning as the Bulldogs hit their third home run of the night. Jack Stevens hit a three-run homer to give them the lead in the ballgame, 5-4.

It was short-lived as the Royals were able to grab the lead after an error by the Bulldogs. Alex Moreno hit a single to right field to bring home two of his teammates to score. Then Cruz was at bat again and was able to get Moreno to score.

It’s been back and forth throughout this game as both teams fight to finally get that title.

After the sixth inning, the Royals were leading 8-6 with a lot more baseball to come.

But like all these NAIA games, the seventh inning changed the game. The Bulldogs started to struggle down the field as the Royals scored five runs in one inning. With a David Rivera home run, the Royals were able to score two runs and get three more in other games.

Now with two innings remaining, the Bulldogs needed to work as they were down seven points in this ballgame, 13-6.

Fans in the stands were hoping to see a late surge by the Bulldogs, but Royals pitcher Steve Ordorica didn’t let them have a chance at a hit. With the final play of the game, Ordorica took the ball from the hit and crossed it to first base to get the final out of the NAIA World Series.

This was the first time in program history that Hope International won an NAIA World Series. This has been an impressive streak for them as they won their first NAIA World Series game on Saturday against Kansas Wesleyan. Since that game, they have gone on a winning streak to now win the national championship game.

They etched their name into the history books as the 2024 Avista NAIA World Series National Champions and with the 14 runs scored in this game, it is the fourth most in an NAIA World Series game.