CALDWELL, Idaho – In the seventh inning of Sunday's game against Lewis-Clark State College, College of Idaho coach Shawn Humberger ventured out to the mound to talk with relief pitcher Eric Wisner about how to pitch to Brock Ephan with the bases loaded.
 
By that time, however, Ephan had already done enough damage earlier in the game with the bases juiced.
 
The Warrior senior first-baseman hit a grand-slam home run in the first inning, his third home run in as many games, to power LC State to an 11-1 victory at Wolfe Field on Sunday. The victory gave the Warriors a four-game Cascade Collegiate Conference sweep.
 
The Warriors, ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, stretched their win streak to nine games and improved to 11-1 in conference play and 20-2 overall, while College of Idaho dropped to 13-18 overall and 5-11 in league.
 
And how did Ephan's second plate appearance with the bases loaded turn out? The Warriors still scored four runs, but it was on two wild pitches, an error and a passed ball.
 
Ephan's big hit, his sixth home run of the season, gave him 16 RBI on the year. In Saturday's sweep, he had a solo shot and then added a two-run blast in the second game.
 
"He is swinging with confidence, there's no doubt about it," LC Coach Jake Taylor said. "This weekend was good for all of our offense but Brock is really a special player."
 
Riley Way opened the game with a single and A.J. Davis and Jack Johnson drew walks to load the bases and set up Ephan's big blow off the first pitch he saw from Coyotes' starter Austin Van Horne.
 
College of Idaho picked up its only run in the second when LC starter Greg Blackman gave up a pair of singles and an RBI sacrifice fly to Tanner Leaf. Blackman went five innings to improve to 2-0 on the season. He gave up five hits but pitched out of a couple of jams. Jacob Bogacz gave up two walks in the sixth, while Jesse Parker pitched the final three innings to pick up his second save.
 
In all, the three Warrior pitchers allowed seven hits and struck out eight. For the four-game series, LC's pitching staff allowed only 10 runs.
 
"Our pitching staff just continues to improve," Taylor said. "I like the starters we have been using. As we move to the second half of the season we are going to start moving some guys around. We are going to flip flop some guys from the bullpen so you are going to see a different starting rotation."
 
Leading 4-1 Sunday, LC added two runs in the third. Dillon Plew singled and an out later, Ephan drew a walk. After a wild pitch, Luke White hit a two-run single. White entered the weekend series with nine RBI and left with 19 as the Warriors scored 52 runs. White went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
 
The Warriors added a solo run in the sixth when White singled and eventually scored on a single by Matt James.
 
LC State finished its scoring with the four-run seventh inning. A single by Davis was followed by Plew and Johnson being hit by pitches to load the bases. After a wild pitch scored Davis, Ephan reached on a throwing error, which allowed another run to score. The Warriors continued to take advantage of Coyotes' mistakes as a wild pitch and a passed ball brought in the final two runs.
 
"We jumped on them early and I like the way we continue to produce with two outs," Taylor said. "I think we had six or seven runs with two outs."
 
LC returns to action next Saturday for a four-game series against Eastern Oregon that will complete the first half of conference play. The two teams will play a noon doubleheader and also an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday, all at Harris Field. LC already holds a five-game lead in the conference standings.
 
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