VANCOUVER, B.C. – The No. 5 Lewis-Clark State baseball team picked up their first conference win on Saturday after taking game two 2-1 against the British Columbia Thunderbirds. After falling 3-2 in game one, Gerald Hein took the mound in game two and shut down the UBC offense. Darren Trainor provided the power at the plate to lift the Warriors to victory and snap a two-game skid.
 
"Even though our offensive struggles continued for most of the day today, our pitching and defense gave us a chance," coach Jake Taylor said. "Our inability to group quality at bats together thus far has been our nemesis."
 
GAME ONE: UBC def. LCSC 3-2
 
The Warriors got off to a hot start. Kody Garvin and Kyle Callahan notched back-to-back doubles to put LC up 1-0 in the top of the first.
 
Tyler Burch was handed the ball for the Warriors and ended the home half of the first with a strikeout. A leadoff base hit was erased in the bottom of the second when Burch turned a line drive back at him into a double play.
 
The Thunderbirds took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth when an RBI triple brought in a pair of runs.
 
The Warriors finally gained momentum in the top of the seventh. Darren Trainor led off with a walk before courtesy runner Thomas Lampkin took second on a wild pitch. Lampkin stepped up with a huge steal of third ahead of Riley Way's single to left to tie the ballgame 2-2.
 
Ryan Kaser took over on the mound in the seventh and surrendered a run on a sacrifice fly, putting UBC in front 3-2. They held that lead for the rest of the contest.
 
Burch finished his day with six innings pitched, two earned runs, four walks and five strikeouts.
 
The Warriors managed five hits in the game with Way and Callahan each logging an RBI.
 
 
GAME TWO: LCSC def. UBC 2-1
 
It was the Warriors that struck first in game two, taking a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run off the bat of Trainor.
 
Hein kept UBC off the board, striking out three in his first three innings.
 
Callahan wore a pitch to reach base in the top of the fourth before Trainor sent the second pitch of the at bat over the fence in left field to put LC on top.
 
Hein continued to shut down Thunderbird batters through six solid innings. Tanner Simpson took over in relief in the home half of the seventh and struck out the side.
 
UBC struck for a run in the bottom of the ninth before closer Joe Riley took the mound and closed out the game to earn the save.
 
Way led the offense with two hits and Trainor collected the only two RBI for LC with his big fly.
 
Hein picked up the win after throwing six scoreless innings while allowing only two hits. He struck out five. Simpson struck out four in his two innings and Riley collected one strikeout in his save.
 
The Warriors conclude the four-game set with UBC tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Vancouver, B.C.