LEWISTON, Idaho - Just six teams will remain in the Avista NAIA World Series by the time the first pitch is thrown, scheduled for 8:30 central time tonight between Faulkner and Central Methodist (Mo.). At time of posting, the second game was approximately an hour behind and this will be game four of the day. 

THE STAKES
The winner will punch their ticket to Wednesday's semifinals while the loser will enter a do-or-die game to survive to that point. While the semifinals will not be set until Tuesday to prevent rematches, a win guarantees a spot in the final four in the country regardless of what happens in the matchup with either Southeastern or Georgia Gwinnett Tuesday night. A Faulkner win would slot Central Methodist into an elimination game against the hosts, while a CMU win would see Faulkner play the Grenadiers of IU-Southeast. The difference is to prevent rematches as long as possible and the tournament committee will adjust times and matchups to do so. 

THE HISTORY
This will be just the second meeting between the two sides, but they, much like was the case with LCSC, have met with high-stakes every time. The two previous meetings both came in the Opening Round once in 2016, and once in 2019. Faulkner won both matchups by five runs taking the 2016 matchup 10-5 and a 7-2 decision in 2019. This will be the first battle between the two sides away from Harrison Field. 

UNIQUE TIES 
Central Methodist's graduate assistant is none other than former Faulkner pitcher Marco Blanchard who's impact to the school extended well beyond the diamond, despite great numbers on the hill from 2016-2017. Central Methodist's Sergio Macias changed blue for green between the fall 2018 and spring 2019, transferring to his current institution from Faulkner. His nice season this year currently leads the second-seed and fourth-ranked Eagles in batting average (.423) and RBIs (69) en route to the Heart Conference Player of the Year. 

THE PATHS
Heart Coach of the Year Nate Breland navigated Central Methodist to Lewiston for the first time ever after sweeping the O'Fallon Bracket, knocking off William Carey twice. The Missouri-based Eagles won the Heart of America Conference tournament and regular season titles with a 47-6 record overall and 26-3 in league play. CMU beat IU Southeast 11-5 Saturday off the back of an eight-run fourth inning featuring back-to-back-to-back home runs. 
Faulkner pushed past Lewis Clark State 4-0 off tremendous defense and pitching coupled with two home runs Friday night. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
The likely pitching matchup should be an absolute treat featuring July Sosa and Mason Schwellenbach. Faulkner's hurler would bring a 3.66 ERA and a 7-2 record into the contest with 91 strikeouts over 71.1 innings. Sosa defeated St. Thomas in the first game of the Opening Round fanning eight and allowing three runs in 5.1 innings. 
Schwellenbach is a two-way player, a unique, but not unfamiliar playing style to Faulkner having seen Sloan Dieter from William Carey and Benjamin Harris from Brewton-Parker have great success in both roles. Central Methodist's No. 2 guy would enter with a 2.34 ERA and a 13-1 record. He's thrown 104 strikeouts and just 16 walks over 80.2 innings while hitting .380 and slugging .671 from the dish. He leads the country in wins and is 23rd in ERA.

COVERAGE
The games will be broadcast on the NAIA Network in a pay-per-view format -- $14.95 for a day pass and $34.95 for the tournament pass.
Live stats will be available on Dakstats.