LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 5 LC State Baseball team opened the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, with a pair of victories. The Warriors upended Oregon Tech 21-1 to knock the Owls out of the tournament, then turned around to defeat Corban 4-1.
 
Eric Chavarria gave the Warriors a strong start in the first LC game of the day. The junior all-conference selection struck out seven in seven innings without walking a batter. LC faced a tougher challenge in the nightcap but emerged victorious over the Corban Warriors.
 
"We had two quality starts today from Chav and Alec (Holmes) again," Head Coach Jake Taylor said. "The bullpen was solid as well. Only allowing two runs in 18 innings gives us a chance to be successful.
 
"Offensively in game 1 we had quality production from our entire lineup," Taylor said. "In game 2 we did the majority of our damage with two-out RBI from Brock (Ephan) and Riley (Way). We will be ready to go tomorrow."
 
 
GAME 1: LC State def. Oregon Tech 21-1
The Warriors struck first in the game with a run in the bottom of the first. Dillon Plew walked before coming around to score on a bloop single by Brock Ephan. LC doubled its lead to 2-0 after Luke White scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Zach Threlfall.
 
OIT answered in the top of the third before a double play turned by Chavarria, A.J. Davis and Brock Ephan ended further threat.
 
Jack Johnson doubled in the third LC State run of the contest in the home half of the third to bring in Riley Way. Ephan singled through the hole on the left side and Aidan Nagle was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Luke White singled in a run. Threfall was hit by a pitch the bring in a run and an error on a ball hit by Davis scored a pair.
 
The Warriors batted around in the third and Johnson was hit by a pitch. Plew cleared the bases with a double into the right field corner to make it 11-1.
 
LC State kept its foot on the gas in the fourth, starting with a walk to Nagle. White singled through the left side and a double to deep right center by Linscott knocked in both. An OIT error on a ball hit by Johnson capped the scoring in the inning with the Warriors in front 14-1.
 
Chavarria continued his dominance into the fifth inning. The junior fanned six through his first five on the mound.
 
Davis tripled to begin the Warriors' half of the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Way.
 
Linscott walked to lead off the inning before White notched his fourth hit of the game. Threfall walked to load the bases and Davis brought a run in with a base hit to center. Zach Needham singled in his first at bat of the game and Alex Light was hit by a pitch to grow the lead by two.
 
Plew plated a run with a fielder's choice and Ephan doubled to make it a 20-1 game through seven.
 
Lucas Gregory tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth in relief of Chavarria before LC added on in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot to left. Eli Shubert closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to short.
 
Chavarria had an impressive start with seven strikeouts in seven innings. He did not walk a batter and scattered five hits. White led the offense with four hits and four runs scored. Plew knocked four runs and Linscott drove in three. Ephan tallied three hits in the contest.
 
GAME 2: LC State def. Corban 4-1
Way doubled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the first and came around to score on a single by Ephan. Alec Holmes opened the inning with three strikeouts, and Matt James contributed from behind the plate with a runner caught stealing in the second.
 
Corban evened things up with a solo shot in the top of the fourth.
 
Nagle got the ball rolling in the home half of the fourth with a double to deep right center. James walked and courtesy runner Light took second without a throw before Dalton Harum walked to load the bases. Way drove in two with a hard-hit single up the middle to put LC State back in front.
 
Greg Blackman took over on the mound in the top of the fifth, ending Holmes' day after four innings.
 
James made it a 4-1 game with a home run to center in the bottom of the sixth. Both teams were held off the board in the seventh and eighth, and Jesse Parker closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Way led the LC Warriors with three hits and two RBI. Holmes put together a solid start with four punchouts in four innings. Blackman and Parker were stellar in relief, with Blackman fanning six in four inning and Parker striking out all three outs in the ninth.
 
The Warriors face off with Corban again on Sunday at noon, and 3 p.m. if necessary, for the Cascade Conference tournament title.
 
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