LACEY, Wash. – The No. 6 LC State Warriors saw their winning streak end at 22 games, tied for fifth-best all time, on Friday in a split with NCAA DII Saint Martin's. LC State earned the victory in the first game of the twin bill by a final of 10-3 before falling 7-5 on a walk-off homer in the nightcap.
"We were a bit off all day today on the mound and offensively," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "We hurt ourselves with free passes and squandered RBI opportunities too frequently. It's never great to lose but we will use it as motivation that we have to continue to get better."
GAME 1: LC State def. Saint Martin's 10-3
Trent Sellers picked up a pair of strikeouts in the first inning before LC State got on the board in the top of the second.
Aidan Nagle crushed a ball over the fence in right to make it 1-0 LC State.
Sellers struck out two more through the next two innings before the Warriors struck again in the fourth. A pair of singles by Nagle and
Luke White, as well as a hit-by-pitch, loaded the bases before another hit-by-pitch brought in a run.
The Warriors broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning.
Jack Johnson led the inning off with a double and
Dillon Plew walked to put two on. A towering three-run shot to dead center off the bat of
Brock Ephan grew the lead to 5-0 and a walk to Nagle kept the inning going.
Matt James singled and White was hit by a pitch to load the bases before
Riley Way stepped up to the plate with two outs.
The Lewiston native sent a drive into the gap in right center on an 0-2 pitch to clear the bases. The three-RBI double gave LC State an 8-0 advantage.
Saint Martin's put the Warriors in a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the home half of the fifth, but a strikeout by Sellers got LC out of the inning.
Ephan doubled with one out in the top of the sixth and came around to score on a single up the middle by Nagle.The Saints answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs off
Eric Chavarria in relief. He settled in and struck out two in the seventh.
LC State took advantage of SMU mistakes in the eighth to put another run on the board. Back-to-back walks to Plew and Ephan built momentum for the Warriors, and an error brought in a run to put LC in double-digits.
Brooks Juhasz took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth. A double play turned by Way, Davis and Ephan helped end the inning quickly.
Jesse Parker closed out the game with three ground outs.
Nagle led LC with three hits in the game, while Way, Johnson and Ephan each had two. Way and Ephan each drove in three runs and Nagle scored three.
Sellers earned the victory after striking out six in five innings. He did not allow a run on four hits. Chavarria tallied two punchouts, and Juhasz and Parker each threw a scoreless inning.
GAME 2: Saint Martin's def. LC State 7-5
Johnson got the run scoring started early in the second game with an RBI base hit to center. Way opened the game with an infield single and stole second before coming in to score on Johnson's knock.
LC State added on in the next inning, starting the rally with a triple by White. He crossed home plate on a double down the right field line by
Sam Linscott and took third on a wild pitch. Way walked and stole second before taking third on a wild pitch. Linscott scored on the play to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.
Starter
Alec Holmes helped get LC State out of a jam in the bottom of the second. He struck out a batter after the infield turned a double play to send the Warriors back to the plate.
Holmes finished his day after three strong innings and was lifted for
Bryson Spagnuolo. The reliever got through a scoreless fourth inning before hitting two and walking a batter to load the bases in the fifth.
Lucas Gregory took over with no outs and struck out a pair while allowing a run, charged to Spagnuolo.
Tallon Thomason came on after back-to-back singles in the bottom of the sixth and limited the damage to one run.
The Warriors took advantage of an SMU error in the seventh. Nagle reached on a two-out blunder and scored on a two-run home run to left by White to grow the lead to 5-2.
Thomason struck out two more in the seventh before Saint Martin's rallied in the eighth. The Saints plated three runs on three hits, and a relay to from Linscott to Davis to Needham cut down the go-ahead run at the plate to keep the game tied 5-5.
Cameron Smith was given the ball in the ninth.
SMU walked it off in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run shot to snap the LC State winning streak.
Ephan, White and Linscott each had two hits in the game. White scored twice and drove in two.
Holmes struck out four in his three scoreless innings and allowed one hit. He did not walk a batter in the strongest Warrior pitching outing in the game. Thomason struck out three in three innings but gave up three runs. Smith took the loss after giving up the walk-off home run.
LC State returns to Cascade Conference play on April 23 when it hosts College of Idaho. The contest will open the final homestand of the regular season with a doubleheader on April 24 before wrapping up on April 25.
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