Baseball | 03.18.2018

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LEWISTON, Idaho – A pair of seven-run first innings helped the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team make short work of the Oregon Institute of Technology in NAIA Far West play at LCSC's Harris Field on Sunday.
 
The Warriors won the opener 17-3 in a game that was stopped in the bottom of the seventh inning because of the 10-run rule. LC followed up with an 11-7 win in the second contest.
 
The sweep pushed LCSC's win streak to eight games as the Warriors, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, improve to 20-5 overall and 10-1 in NAIA Far West play. Oregon Tech is 12-18 overall and4-7 in league play.
 
After scoring seven runs in the first inning of each game, the Warriors took different paths to victory. LCSC collected 21 hits in the opener, including 11 that went for extra bases. In the second game, LC's bats cooled off some after the big first inning and the Warriors needed five pitchers to finally close out the Owls.
 
Senior outfielder Raymond Pedrina, the Warriors' leadoff hitter, set the table for the day as he finished 7-for-9 at the plate with five RBI and three runs scored.
 
"As the leadoff batter, it's my job to get us going," said Pedrina, who finished the three-game series at 9-for-13 with four doubles, a triple and eight RBI.  "I don't feel I have anything to prove this year. I'm just letting my game speak for me. I'm just want to do my job."
 
Shortstop Max Draijer went 4-for-6 on the day with four RBI and four runs scored for LC, while teammate Tom Lampkin Jr. finished 5-for-9 with four RBI and four runs scored. Darren Trainor was 5-for-8 with three RBI and two runs scored.
 
In the opener, the Warriors used six hits, three walks and a passed ball for the seven runs in the first inning. They added five in the fourth and three more in the fifth to end the game early.
 
Pedrina finished 5-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored while Lampkin Jr. went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. Trainor added three hits, while Draijer drove in three runs.
 
The Warriors got to Oregon Tech starter Doug Molzahn right away when Pedrina and Bailey opened with singles. Cory Voss doubled in a run and Trainer's sacrifice fly RBI made it 2-0 with two outs. After a walk, Lampkin Jr. doubled in a run. Later, a bases-loaded walk to Draijer forced in a run, while a passed ball allowed another runner to score. Pedrina eventually finished the scoring with a two-run triple.
 
OIT scored all three of its runs in the top of the second off of LCSC starter Tyler Burch. Micah Jio had a two-run double, while Ryan Riempa added a run-scoring single.
 
Outside of that inning, however, Burch (4-1) was fairly sharp. He allowed four hits in five innings with seven strikeouts, but did walk five. Kade Woods allowed one hit and one walk in his two innings of work with one strikeout.
 
LCSC made it 8-3 on Trainor's RBI double in the second, and then put up five in the fourth. Lampkin Jr. had an RBI triple, and Pedrina added an RBI double. Draijer singled in a run, while Voss had an RBI sacrifice fly and Kasey Bailey had an RBI groundout.
 
Matt Thompson hit his first home run of the year, a two-run blast to right-center field, in the fifth inning, while Draijer added an RBI double to make it 16-3.
 
LCSC's final run in the sixth came on a solo home run by Kyle Callahan, his third of the season.
 
"We did a nice job of jumping out early and we want to keep our foot on the gas pedal," Pedrina said. "We've had games this year where get a big lead early and then kind of stall. We sort of did that in the second game."
 
The Warriors trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first of the second contest, but five hits, two walks and an error led to seven runs.  Trainor started the scoring with an RBI single, while Lampkin followed with a two-run double. Draijer later doubled in a run, while Pedrina finished the scoring with a two-run double.
 
After Oregon Tech scored twice in the top of the third, the Warriors answered with three in the bottom of the inning. Makana Victorine hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, while Bailey added a two-run blast, his sixth of the year.
 
OIT cut the margin to 10-7, but LC picked an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI sacrifice fly from Voss.
 
Efrain, del Rio, the third of five LC pitchers, allowed three hits and a run over three innings to pick up the win to go to 2-0 on the season. Anthony Toribio saw his first action of the season because of an injury and pitched one inning.
 
The two teams were scheduled to play a four-game series over the weekend, but Saturday's scheduled doubleheader was washed out by rain. The two teams made up Saturday's doubleheader on Sunday, while Sunday's scheduled single game will be made up during LCSC's trip to Klamath Falls in late April.
 
The Warriors won't have another home game for more than a month. Their next scheduled game was to be at Western Oregon on Thursday, but the game has been cancelled. LCSC will play next Saturday and Sunday in league doubleheaders against Corban. Those games will be played at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore.