The Pioneers closed out the 2006 series winning seven of their last nine NWC games and having won three straight series. They would have a chance to extend that streak right away with an opening-weekend set against the Willamette Bearcats.

Having to get in the series “no matter what”, these home games were moved to the turf surface of Tigard High School to increase the odds of playing the games. A rain-plagued opening day doubleheader on the Tigard turf against the Bearcats turned out to be good news for the Pioneers as they swept both games (9-8 and 8-3), giving them their fourth-straight series victory. The third game of the series was halted in the seventh inning with the Pioneers trailing 5-3. The two teams did not resume the game until the final day of the season. Picking it up on April 26, this time playing in McMinnville, the Pioneers rallied for three runs in their first at-bat, holding on for a 7-5 victory and the sweep over Willamette. The Pioneers made it five-straight series with a road sweep of Whitman once NWC action resumed a month later. In all, the Pioneers won nine straight Conference games between the end of 2006 and the first two series of 2007.

The Pioneers earned some hard-fought victories over Whitworth, Puget Sound, and Pacific to earn a fifth-place finish in the Conference standings, their highest Conference finish since 1996.

Center fielder Greg Williams (senior, San Diego, Calif.) earned his second-straight second team All-Northwest Conference designation. The senior outfielder, who left Lewis & Clark as the all-time leader in career triples and among the career leaders in just about every offensive statistic, drove in 23 runs with a .294 batting average. Designated hitter/ catcher AJ Brown (sophomore, Vancouver, Wash.) edged Williams for both the team RBI lead (29). Both had a team-high four home runs.

Short stop Jordan Shibata (junior, Pearl City, Hawaii) won another team batting title. After a rough start to the season, Shibata battled back to hit .319 for the season. He earned an honorable mention in All-Conference voting. The Pioneers’ leading pitcher, Jordon Smiley (junior, Las Vegas, Nevada) was among the Conference leaders with a 3.11 ERA and 58 strikeouts. He also received an honorable mention.

The Lewis & Clark College Pioneer Male Rookie of the Year, utility man Sami Morgan (freshman, San Mateo, Calif.) also earned an honorable mention for All-NWC. Morgan played nearly every position on the diamond in his rookie year, including earning one of the Pioneers’ two saves in a relief appearance on the mound. Morgan’s averaged dipped to .298 after battling injuries toward the end of the season, but had kept it consistently in the .340 range for most of the year.