*** NCAA DIVISION THREE ***
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The 3 seeds – the CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY KINGSMEN – and the 5th seeded WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS were tied up at 1 game apiece headed into this decisive Game Three.
After 2 scoreless Innings the Kingsmen went on top 2-0 in the 3rd. The Presidents fought back to make it a 3-1 game in the 4th Inning and 3-2 to end the 5th. Cal Lutheran University shut out their opponents for the next few Innings while tacking on another run of their own in the 7th and 3 more in the 8th. Washington & Jefferson College could only muster 1 run in the 9th Inning as the Kingsmen took the title with a 7-3 victory. Scott Roberts threw for the win. * THE KINGSMEN ARE CHAMPIONS OF NCAA DIVISION THREE *
*** NAIA ***
DAY FOUR, GAME ONE: The 9th seeded WILLIAM CAREY UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS continued their Cinderella run, this time against the 6 seeds – the MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY SPARTANS. The Crusaders immediately seized a 2-0 edge in the 1st Inning, followed by the Spartans making it a 2-1 score in the 3rd. William Carey University drove in 3 runs in the 4th Inning and SIX in the 5th on their way to a resounding TWELVE to THREE triumph. Pitcher Cole Edgins picked up the win. Continue reading
THE DEFENDERS Volume 1, Number 10 (November 1973) Breakthrough! 
Synopsis: BATTLE SIX: THOR VERSUS THE HULK – Because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe audiences today automatically associate the Hulk with the Avengers. Back in 1973 that was not the case. Even though the Hulk WAS one of the original Avengers he quit the team at the end of the SECOND ISSUE, in 1963. 
Getting back to the story, the final fragment of the Evil Eye is in Los Angeles, where the Hulk has dug it up with help from the spell cast by Dr Strange. Greenskin is causing the expected city-wide panic but before he can leave with the Eye fragment Thor arrives. 
DAY THREE, GAME TWO: Another elimination game and another upset followed. The 10 seeds – THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS – did battle with the 4th seeded KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS. Neither team scored until the 4th Inning, when the Seahawks eked out a 2-1 edge. The Mustangs added 4 more runs in the 5th and 6th Innings before their bats went as cold as Keiser’s. The Master’s University smacked down the Seahawks by a score of 9-2 behind the pitching of Robert Winslow. 
RED was TRUMP – BLUE was HILLARY. Last November saw Donald Trump become President of the United States while the blustering and bitter Hillary “Bugsy” Clinton had to settle for winning a meaningless statistical category that both she and Trump knew did not designate the election winner. 
Career criminal Hillary Clinton continues to flail her arms, get that unfocused look in her eyes and – in between long coughing jags – snivel and whine about her humiliating loss. She blames everything for her defeat at President Trump’s hands EXCEPT her phony charity, her mishandling of classified information and the public exposure of the steady bribes being funneled to her through the Clinton Foundation. 
The Memorial Day Holiday is marked here at Balladeer’s Blog with items about neglected conflicts and neglected military units from American history. The latest unit to be examined is the Navy of the Republic of Texas. I’ll examine the period from the Texas Revolution against the tyrannical Mexican government up through the Texas Republic joining the U.S. as the State of Texas. 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The top seeded OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY BISON and the 5 seeds – the CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS – were the last two teams standing in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association). After a scoreless 1st Inning the Tigers went up 2-0 in the 2nd but the Bison cut that to a 2-1 edge in the 3rd. 
DAY TWO, GAME ONE: The COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY MAVERICKS played the QUINCY UNIVERSITY HAWKS to start the 2nd day in the D2 World Series. The first 3 Innings were a Pitcher’s Duel with neither team scoring but the 4th ended with the Mavericks on top 2-1. The Hawks pulled ahead 3-2 in the 6th followed by Colorado Mesa University exploding in the 7th for 5 runs. It was all but over from there as the Mavericks took the game by a tally of 10-3 behind Pitcher Tyler Day. 
THE THREE-DAY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IS HERE! As always Balladeer’s Blog marks the event with a few looks at neglected conflicts from America’s past. The servicemen who fought in those actions are just as deserving of being memorialized as those who fought in more familiar wars. 
WILLIAM F LUKES 
DAY FOUR, FIRST SEMIFINAL: The top seeds – the OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY BISON – did battle with the 2nd seeded EMMANUEL COLLEGE LIONS. The Lions managed a 1-0 1st Inning lead but the Bison knotted things up at 1-1 in the 2nd. After a scoreless 3rd Inning the 4th saw Oklahoma Baptist University take a comfortable 5-1 advantage. That turned into a 7-1 lead in the 5th enroute to a 9-2 smackdown win for the Bison and Pitcher Carson McPherson. 
DAY FOUR, SECOND SEMIFINAL: The two teams fighting for the other berth in the title game were the 5th seeded CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS and the 6 seeds – the SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES. Neither team scored in the 1st Inning but in the 2nd the Tigers eked out a 1-0 edge. It was a Pitcher’s Duel for awhile from there, but the 6th Inning saw the Eagles climb on top 3-1. Cambellsville University pulled to within 3-2 in the top of the 8th but in their at-bat Southwestern Christian University made it a 4-2 game. In the 9th Inning the Tigers drove in 3 more runs for a 5-4 victory. Nick “Mister” Przybylek threw for the win. 
MUSLIM VIOLENCE AWARENESS YEAR CONTINUES. Islam is the most misogynistic, homophobic and otherwise intolerant religion in the world at this particular time. And the way Islam insists on marrying religion to government AND insists that non-Muslims must live by Muslim rules makes it a fascist and totalitarian movement that needs to be opposed loudly and daily. 
DAY ONE, GAME TWO: This game pitted the 6 seeds – the MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY SPARTANS – against the 3rd seeded OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES. Neither team scored until the 3rd Inning, when the Spartans grabbed a 4-0 lead. The Eagles cut it to a 4-3 score by the end of the 4th Inning but produced no more runs. Missouri Baptist University added 1 more in the 5th and rode that to a 5-3 upset of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Michael Syrett threw for the win. 
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