LEWISTON, Idaho – Josh Landry tossed a five-hit shutout and the Hope International offense produced six runs over the final four innings, starting the 2026 NAIA Baseball Opening Round, presented by Avista, with a 6-0 victory over Texas A&M-Victoria on Monday at Harris Field.
The senior did not walk a batter and struck out nine in an 111-pitch effort, posting his fifth complete game and fourth shutout of the season.
HIU's win represented the 400th all-time for the program.
Landry allowed five singles, four through the first three innings. The last hit for the Jaguars was a two-out single in the fifth by Josiah Taylor, who promptly got picked up by Landry to end the inning.
The left-hander proceeded to retire 11 of the last 12 batters, with a seventh inning one-out error the only other baserunner for A&M-Victoria.
Jaguar starter Jonathan Jones held HIU down, setting down 12 of the first 13 batters. Except for a Hunter Essang first inning single and Eddie Cotto reaching on a fifth inning error, the Royals had no activity on the basepaths.
However, HIU broke through with a three-run sixth inning. Royce Clayton led off with a double and came home on Isaiah Lane's RBI single.Â
Essang's fielder's choice grounder resulted in a two-base throwing error, putting runners on second and third. Colby Moran's single plated Lane as HIU led 2-0. Cotto followed with a sacrifice fly to score Essang for the third run.
The Royals tacked on two runs in the eighth. Moran drove in his second run on a double, scoring David Shackelford who led off the inning with a walk. Cotto knocked in Essang for the second time on an RBI groundout as HIU increased its lead to 5-0.
In the ninth, the Royals completed the scoring as David Allen slammed the first pitch he saw from Jones for a leadoff home run over the center field wall.
Landry had at least one strikeout in seven of the nine innings, upping his season total to 109, fourth-most in HIU single-season history.
The third-seeded Royals take on No. 1 seed and host Lewis-Clark State on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in a winner's bracket game.
