VANCOUVER, B.C. - The No. 5 Lewis-Clark State baseball team struggled at the plate in the opening contest of their four-game set at British Columbia on Friday night. They did not have a hit until the eighth inning but avoided a shutout with a five-run eighth inning.

Lalo Porras got the start on the mound for the Warriors and worked a strong first inning, striking out the side.

The Thunderbirds struck for four runs on one hit the home half of the second to take an early 4-0 lead over the Warriors. Darren Trainor showed off his arm from behind the plate when he cut down a runner trying to take second.

Kyle Callahan became the first Warrior to reach base after wearing a pitch in the top of the fifth. Jeff Bart walked to put two on for LC but the Warriors were unable to score.

Andrew Najeeb-Brush took over in the bottom of the fifth, inheriting runners on first and second with one out. A three-run shot for the Thunderbirds extended their lead to 7-0. UBC tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth and three more in the seventh.

The Warriors batted around and notched their first hit of the game in the top of the eighth. Bart drew a walk before Kody Garvin and A.J. Davis went back-to-back with singles to right field to bring in the first LC run. Way was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Zach Needham walked to bring in another run and Kyle Callahan singled in one to bring the score to 11-4. Bart walked for the second time in the eighth to bring in the fifth run of the inning.

Davis singled through the left side to start the top of the ninth. Way and Callahan drew walks to load the bases but the Warriors failed to bring anyone in. They dropped game one of the series 11-5.

Davis led the Warriors with two hits and an RBI. He totaled half of the LC hits in the game.

Porras took the loss, giving up five earned runs in 4.1 innings. He struck out eight.

The Warriors struggled against UBC pitching and struck out 19 times. That total is one short of the most strikeouts in one game, with the most being 20 in 1969.

LC picks up the series with the Thunderbirds tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.