LEWISTON, Idaho – No. 19 Lewis-Clark State edged the College of Idaho Yotes in both games of Saturday's twin bill, taking game one 4-3 and game two 7-4. Strong relief outings by the LC State bullpen helped keep the Yotes' batters quiet late in the both games, and timely hits provided offensive support.
"C of I kept us off-balance a little bit," coach Jake Taylor said. "We had some timely knocks in both games, but most of all our pitching was fairly decent today. We had a couple quality starts and some guys came out of the bullpen and did alright. We did enough to win."
GAME ONE: LCSC def. C of I 4-3
Luke White led off the bottom of the second with a double off the wall in left. Riley Way punched a ball through the right side to plate White and give LC the early lead.
Elias Moctezuma worked the Warriors out of some jams to keep the Yotes off the board through the first four innings.
Way got things going in the home half of the fourth with a base hit and scored on a double to right by Dalton Harum. Zach Needham reached on an error, putting runners on the corners with one out. Alex Light made his Warrior debut as Needham's courtesy runner, and both he and Harum came around to score on a single by A.J. Davis. LC State led 4-0 after four.
Jesse Parker took over on the mound in the top of the fifth with two on and no outs. He limited the Yotes to two runs before striking out two.
Needham cut down a runner trying to take second for the second out of the sixth inning. That out was sandwiched by punch outs by Parker.
C of I came within a run in the top of the eighth, striking for a run to make it 4-3 in favor of the Warriors.
Parker continued his work in the top of the ninth and sat down the Yotes in order to close out the 4-3 victory. He struck out eight in five innings and did not walk a batter to earn his third win of the season.
Davis and Way led the Warriors with two hits each, and Davis had two RBI. Johnson stretched his hitting streak to 14 games with his hit in the first inning.
GAME TWO: LCSC def. C of I 7-4
College of Idaho held the Warriors off the board until the bottom of the third. Jack Sheward singled to lead off the inning and was lifted for a courtesy runner in Light. Johnson ripped an RBI-triple into right center, then scored on a single by Aidan Nagle. Brock Ephan stepped to the plate next and blasted a ball over the left field bleachers to put the Warriors up 4-0.
The Yotes battled back in the fourth and fifth, tying the game 4-4.
The Warrior bats woke up in the fifth to put LC State back in front. Johnson walked to build momentum and took third on a single by Nagle. Ephan singled to center to plate a run, and White loaded the bases with a knock through the left side. Needham brought in the sixth run for LC State with a sacrifice fly and Ephan scored on a passed ball to make it 7-4.
Greg Blackman was given the ball in the top of the sixth in a bases loaded, one out situation. He struck out the first batter he faced and forced a groundout to end the inning. He added three more strikeouts before closing the game in the ninth.
Jeremy Rabauliman picked up the win after tossing an inning. Blackman earned his third save of the season with his five strikeouts in three and two-thirds. He did not walk a batter or allow a hit.
Johnson, Nagle, Ephan and Way each had two hits in the game. Ephan led LC with three RBI and Johnson tallied a hit in his 15th-consecutive game.
The Warriors wrap up the series with the College of Idaho tomorrow at 11 a.m.
