This season, LSU Shreveport is invincible – literally. 44 games, 44 wins – and many by lopsided scores. Head Coach Brad Neffendorf says his team has really gelled this year.
“We have a lot of returners. Some that have been here for three years, and they’ve meshed in and taken in the new guys that we’ve got really well, and they just play really well together. They’re poised, they’re loose, they execute at a high level, and they just continue to keep finding ways to play pretty well together,” Neffendorf said.
Looking at their results, one three-game series really jumps out at you. In late March, the Pilots swept Texas College by the scores of – we’re not making this up – 37-0, 15-0 and 42-4. Never mind home runs, this team scores touchdowns! Neffendorf says one challenge amid such dominance is not to let the team get over-confident.
“The biggest thing that we talked about since the beginning of the year is just guarding against the unknown. You know, we kind of have to deal here where, and, I don’t want this to sound the wrong way, but the team over there can’t beat us, but you can be beat,” Neffendorf said.
The Pilots don’t win 44 games in a row without sheer talent, and Coach Neffendorf says his team is loaded with talent, especially Josh Gibson.
“I think he’s probably put himself in a position. He’s the best player in the conference this year. He’s a three-year returning guy, extremely athletic. He’s played center, left, third, short, second. He’s a high caliber athlete,” Neffendorf said.
The 44-game winning streak is the longest in NAIA history, and it’s longer than the current NCAA Division One record of 34, set in 1977 by Texas and equaled in 1999 by Florida Atlantic. It matches the Division Three record set by Trinity College of Connecticut in 2008, but it’s two wins shy of the overall four-year collegiate record – Division Two’s Savannah State, which won 46 in a row in 2000. LSU Shreveport can surpass that mark by sweeping Jarvis Christian in Texas this weekend.
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