Baseball | 02.04.2017

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The good news for the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team is that it finally was able to get its season started on Saturday. The other good news is that it hit six home runs in its season-opening doubleheader against 8^th-ranked Westmont.

The bad news, however, was that all six home runs were solo homers and that wasn't enough to overcome the mistakes of seven errors and untimely walks, wild pitches, and passed balls.

Taking the good with the bad, LCSC, the NAIA's No. 1-ranked team, wound .up on the short end of 4-3 and 6-4 scores on Saturday. The first contest went 11 innings and was only the fourth time in program history LC opened the season with an extra-inning game.

The contests were the season opener for both schools. LCSC was originally scheduled to open its season at home on Friday but had to call off the first two home weekends because of weather issues. Westmont was supposed to open its season on Friday at home, but its scheduled doubleheader was rained out. Unlike LCSC, Westmont has been able to practice outside the last two months.

In Saturday's opener, LCSC scored all three of its runs on solo home runs, including a shot by Tyler McDowell in the top of the ninth inning that eventually sent the game into extra innings.
Raymond Pedrina, seeing his first action in almost two years because of injuries, picked up LCSC's first hit of the season in the top of the second inning of the opener with a solo home run to right center.

Westmont answered with a solo shot of its own from Brody Weiss in the bottom of the second to tie it at 1-1.

Westmont then picked up a run in the fourth off LCSC starter Connor Brogdon on a walk, a wild pitch, and two errors.  LCSC, which had only been able to practice outside a couple of times since the first week of December, committed four errors in the game.

Both teams hit solo home runs again in the sixth inning. Logan Griffin led off the inning for LCSC with blast to straight away center, but Westmont countered with Derek Rodigo's solo homer to left for a 3-2 lead.

McDowell tied the game in the top of the ninth with his leadoff shot to right field.

Both teams then left a runner stranded in both the ninth and 10^th innings. McDowell then drew a leadoff walk in the top of the 11^th, but he was stranded at second after a ground out and a pair of strikeouts.

In the bottom of the 11^th, Rodigo hit a one-out double to left-center field and was replaced by a pinch-runner. LCSC then intentionally walked Michael Pollex to set up a potential double play ground ball. Weiss nearly obliged but LCSC could only force out Pollex at second on a grounder. Luke Coffey was then intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force out at any base. However, the move backfired when Shane Soria walked to force in the game-winning run.

Both teams finished with six hits and left eight baserunners stranded in the game.
 
In the second game, LCSC hurt itself with fielding and pitching miscues. Four of Westmont's six runs were unearned in the game.
 
Westmont took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on just one hit. Michael Frigon, the No. 9 hitter, opened with a single and went to second when Connor McManigal reached on an error by the LCSC center fielder. An error by LCSC pitcher Gage Burland moved the runners to second and third, and then a wild pitch allowed Frigon to score. A passed ball then brought in McManigal.
 
Westmont added four more in the fourth for a 6-0 lead. Travis Vander Molen opened with a double and Weiss reached on an error by the LCSC first baseman. Luke Coffey then singled to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed one run to score. Frigon followed with the key hit, a two-run single, to make it 5-0. A fielder's choice grounder eventually brought in the final run.
 
LCSC picked up two runs in the sixth on back-to-back solo home runs from Evan Douglas and Seaver Whalen. Douglas' was to right field, while Whalen's was a shot down the left-field line.
 
Douglas did it again in the eighth when he hit another solo shot to right field to cut the lead to 6-3. LCSC added another run in the inning when Whalen and Kasey Bailey drew walks and Gunnar Buhner followed with an RBI single. Matt Thompson followed but struck out with two runners on.
 
LCSC attempted a rally in the ninth as well when Emilio Alcantar drew a one-out walk and Whalen was hit by a pitch with two outs. Pinch-hitter J.J. Robinson drew a walk to load the bases, but pinch-hitter Hayden Meier popped out to second to end the game.

Douglas, McDowell and Buhner had two hits apiece for LCSC in the second game, but the team did strand 10 on base.

LCSC resumes its California road trip on Sunday with a single game against Antelope Valley at 11 a.m. in Lancaster, Calif. LCSC will play five games on the trip before it is scheduled to make its home debut on Feb. 18 against Central Washington.