PHOENIX – The No. 19 Lewis-Clark State Baseball team split day two of the Arizona Christian Tournament, defeating No. 15 Westmont 7-4 before falling to the host team, Arizona Christian, 12-7.
"In game one against Westmont, Matt Driver, Jesse Parker and Luke Tedrick threw well and gave us a chance to win," coach Jake Taylor said. "The second inning got away from us in game two. We had plenty of opportunities to get back in the game but never came up with timely base hits."
GAME ONE: LCSC def. Westmont 7-4
Driver got the start for LC State and struck out two in the bottom of the first.
A throwing error by the Westmont defense put Dalton Harum on second in the top half of the second, and another error put Luke White on first. Zach Needham drew a walk to load the bases and Jaden Phillips provided the fireworks with a two-RBI single up the middle to put LC State in front 2-0.
A solo shot by Westmont put them on the board, but another strikeout by Driver got LC out of the inning.
Dalton Harum doubled down the left field line and came around to score on a wild pitch. Two more strikeouts from Parker made it 3-1 after four.
Westmont struck for a run in the fifth and sixth to tie the ball game.
Harum led off the top of the eighth with a walk, then advanced to third on a ground-rule double by Luke White. Needham was intentionally walked and lifted for Goldby. Phillips struck again with an RBI-single to right to put LC State back on top 4-1. Way kept the inning going with a double to left to bring in two more. A singled by A.J. Davis brought in Phillips to make it 7-3.
LC State won game one 7-4.
Harum and Phillips each had two hits in the game, and Phillips led LC with three RBI.
Driver tossed two inning, striking out three. Parker picked up his first win of the season after striking out four in five innings. Tedrick threw the final two and struck out two.
GAME TWO: Arizona Christian def. LCSC 12-7
Arizona Christian dealt the Warriors a large blow by putting up 11 runs in the second inning. The Warriors did not go down quietly, however, and chipped away at the deficit.
Brock Ephan led off the fourth with a single to left, then advanced on a walk to Harum. A fly out by Jack Johnson moved both, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of White plated Ephan.
Jackson Fuller notched his first hit of the season with a lead-off single in the top of the fifth. Coy Stout took over on the bases and moved to third on a double by Way. Nagle knocked in a run with a groundout to second.
LC State added four more runs in the sixth, starting with back-to-back singles from Harum and Johnson. Harum scored on a double by White, and a sacrifice fly by Needham plated one more. Fuller and Way drew walks before White scored on a wild pitch. Ephan walked with the bases loaded to cut the deficit to 11-6.
White doubled to open the ninth inning, then took third and scored on wild pitches for LC State's seventh run.
The Warriors fell 12-7 in the nightcap.
White led LC in game two with two hits and two RBI. Greg Blackman was a bright spot on the mound, tossing three scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
The tournament continues on Saturday when LC State faces Antelope Valley at 11:30 a.m.
