LANCASTER, Calif. – The first road test of the season was easily aced by the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team because the Warriors rolled to a 12-2 nonleague win over the University of Antelope Valley on Friday afternoon.
The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, improved to 7-0 with the win, while Antelope Valley, which received votes in the preseason poll, falls to 7-5.
LCSC pounded out 23 hits in the contest, 10 of which went for extra bases.
Tyler McDowell led the way by going 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles. He also drove in three runs and scored three times.
Kyle Callahan added four doubles and drove in three runs, while
Makana Victorine added two hits and two RBI.
Luis Hildago, who scored three runs as a courtesy runner for the catcher, hit the lone home run of the game, a solo shot in the ninth for LCSC.
The Warriors started the barrage with a five-run third inning. Callahan doubled in two runs, while
Kasey Bailey, Cody Voss and Victorine had RBI singles.
After Antelope Valley scored a run in the bottom of the inning, the Warriors countered with two in the top of the fourth. Hildago doubled in a run and later scored on an error.
Riley Way then stole home in the top of the fifth to extend the Warriors' lead to 8-2.
LCSC broke the game open with four runs apiece in the sixth and eighth innings. In the sixth, McDowell doubled in a run and later scored on a single by Victorine.
Kody Garvin added an RBI single and an error brought in the final run.
In the eighth, Callahan doubled in two runs, McDowell added an RBI double, and
Joey Parente singled in a run.
LCSC scored its final two runs in the ninth on Hildago's home run and on an RBI single by McDowell.
The Warriors used two pitchers in the game,
Justin Hammergren and
Tyler Charlo. Hammergren (1-0) gave up five hits and two runs in six innings. He also struck out four. Charlo went the final three innings and also allowed five hits and one earned run. He struck out one.
The start is LCSC's best in two season. In 2016, LCSC started the season 13-0.
The Warriors and Antelope Valley continue their four games series with a noon doubleheader on Saturday. The two wrap up play on Sunday with a single game, also at noon.
