Dawgs lose NAIA title game

June 3, 2006 – LEWISTON, Idaho — Cumberland was turned away from its second National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship in three years in the wee hours Saturday when host Lewis-Clark State won its 14th national title with a 5-4 win before a record crowd at Harris Field.
Jose Castenon drew a bases-loaded walk from Lebanon's Adam Tomlinson in the 11th inning to force in the winning run before a crowd announced at 5,480, believed to be the largest ever to watch the Bulldogs in action.
The Bulldogs, the designated home team in the game, led 1-0 on a Dorian Rojas home run in the first inning.
But Lewis-Clark got two game-turning throws from center-fielder Mark Thompson, who later scored the deciding run. Thompson singled home two runs in the fifth to put the Warriors in front for the first time 4-3.
Cumberland got three straight two-out singles in the sixth to force a 4-4 tie. But Thompson threw out a runner at third base to end the inning and the Bulldogs never got another base hit.
The Bulldogs were scheduled to bus out of Lewiston in the wee hours today, catch an early-morning flight from Spokane, Wash., and arrive in Nashville aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 2459 at 4:55 p.m. The team is scheduled to make an appearance at tonight's Phoenix Ball.