CALDWELL, Idaho. – Lewis-Clark State College senior right-hander Henry McAree struck out cleanup hitter Dominic Conigliaro and pinch-hitter Devon Pogue with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to preserve the Warriors' 7-5 NAIA Far West victory over the College of Idaho at Wolfe Field on Sunday.
 
The victory helped LCSC take three of four games from the Yotes as the Warriors improved to 13-8 overall and 6-3 in NAIA Far West play, while College of Idaho falls to 14-15 overall and 7-5 in conference.
 
LCSC will continue its six-game road trip in five days with single games against Northwest Nazarene University, an NCAA Division II school, on Monday and Tuesday in Nampa. Monday's game is set for 1 p.m., PDT, while Tuesday will start at 11 a.m., PDT.
 
In Sunday's contest, the Warriors put together a fairly solid all-around effort to claim the win, although things got hairy in the bottom of the ninth when the Yotes scored two runs and loaded the bases with one out. McAree,
 
however, retired Conigliaro, C of I's home run and RBI leader, on strikes and did the same with pinch-hitter Pogue to end the game. The effort helped McAree pick up his third save of the season.
 
LCSC collected 13 hits in the game and three players – Evan Douglas, Logan Griffin, and Gunnar Buhner -­ drove in two runs apiece. LCSC also picked up its sixth home run in three games when Griffin went deep to right on the overcast day. Of the six home runs, five have been solo shots.
 
The contest has a weird start and a somewhat weird ending that featured an 11-minute rain delay in the top of the ninth inning.
 
LCSC starting pitcher Matt Fish appeared to retire the first batter he faced, Johnny Hyland, on a routine fly ball to left in the bottom of the first, but the base umpire ruled an illegal pitch because Fish did not have his foot on the rubber during the pitch. The dead ball call gave Hyland a second chance and he made the most of it with a single.
 
The first three batters against Fish singled as Bobby Wright and Cole Mansanarez also singled, the latter scoring Hyland. A wild pitch later scored Wright.
 
Despite the three hits and the 2-0 lead, Fish only allowed one hit the rest of his five-inning outing and retired 10 in a row at one point. He finished with four strikeouts and no walks to improve to 1-2 on the season.
 
Matt Gorgolinkski allowed five hits and a run in his two innings, while Steve Pastora allowed two hits and two runs (one earned) in his 1.1 innings. McAree gave up a base hit before his two strikeouts to end the game.
 
Griffin's second home run of the season made it 2-1 in the third and the Warriors took 4-2 lead in the fifth, finally getting to Yotes' starter Miles Bigelow. Raymond Pedrina led off the fifth with a double and scored on a single by Griffin. Seaver Whalen singled Griffin to second and J.J. Robinson scored Griffin on a single. Whalen later scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Douglas.
 
College of Idaho made it 4-3 in the sixth on a fielder's choice grounder by Austin Van Horne, but LCSC answered in the top of the seventh with a run. Douglas doubled with two outs and scored on a single by Buhner.
 
LCSC added two key runs in the top of the ninth for a 7-3 lead. Whalen, who has an 11-game hit streak, started the rally with a walk and moved to third on a double down the left-field line by Robinson. After the rain delay that featured a downpour that stopped as quickly as it started, Micah Brown walked to loaded the bases and Douglas was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Buhner brought in the second run on a sacrifice fly to center.
 
After a strikeout to start the bottom of the ninth, the Yotes began to rally an error sandwiched by two singles loaded the bases. A walked forced in a run and a single made it 7-5 with one out and the bases loaded. That's when McAree recorded the pair of strikeouts to end the game.
 
LCSC and College of Idaho will meet 12 times this season, eight of which in conference play. LCSC is 5-1 so far in the six games played and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings. Overall, LCSC is 170-36-1 against the Yotes since 1962.