LEWISTON, Idaho – The Warriors clobbered six home runs en route to a pair of double-digit wins against Eastern Oregon University on Sunday.
Sam Linscott hit half of the team's big flies with three on the day. Fourth-ranked LC State had strong pitching performances from starters
Trent Sellers and
Eric Chavarria, and the Warrior bullpen held EOU to one run between both games.
"Two great starts for Trent and Eric today," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "They set the tone and worked with pace. They gave our offense a chance to get going early. We are beginning to make some strides in grouping at-bats together, but need to be more consistent throughout the lineup. We are making progress."
GAME ONE: LC State def. Eastern Oregon 13-0 (7 innings)
Sellers struck out the side to start game one of the twin bill, and the LC offense jumped on EOU pitching in the home half of the first inning.
A.J. Davis pulled a ball down the line for a double, and
Aidan Nagle was hit by a pitch to put two on.
Sam Linscott launched his second big fly of the season to make it a 3-0 ball game.
LC rolled through the second with a strikeout from Sellers, and a runner caught stealing by
Zach Threlfall ended the EOU half of the third. Sellers fanned two more in the fourth.
The Warriors added three in the fourth, all with two outs, to push the advantage to 6-0.
Riley Way sparked the rally with a single before Davis was hit by a pitch. Nagle ripped a ball up the middle to plate one, and a triple by Linscott brought in two more.
Coy Stout contributed to all three outs in the fifth, collecting two groundouts and a pop up. He added to the LC lead with an RBI-double off the wall in the bottom of the inning, driving in
Nick Seamons.
Joe Ball took over on the mound in the sixth and struck out one.
A big six-run inning broke the contest wide open. Davis led off the sixth with a single before coming in on a two-run shot by Nagle. Linscott reached on an infield single and stole second, then scored on a pair of wild pitches.
Luke White and Threlfall drew back-to-back walks before an infield knock by Seamons made it 11-0.
Matt James kept the inning going with a base hit through the left side to bring in courtesy runner
Ethan Rhoads. A fielder's choice brought Seamons across to cap the inning with LC in front 13-0.
Ball struck out the side in order to close out the run-rule game in the seventh. LC pitching started the game and ended the game with three punchouts.
Linscott led the offense with three hits and five RBI. Davis and Nagle each had two hits and Nagle drove in three. The Warriors totaled 11 hits in the contest.
Sellers earned his fourth win of the season behind six strikeouts. Ball Fanned four in two innings, and neither allowed a walk.
GAME TWO: LC State def. Eastern Oregon 11-1 (8 innings)
Linscott continued his tear with a two-run homer run in the first inning. Way led off the game with a single and stole second before scoring on the two-run shot. His double in the second plated Seamons to make it 3-0.
The Warrior offense exploded for seven runs in the third to push the margin to 10-0. Linscott drilled a solo shot to center, and White and Threlfall followed with back-to-back doubles. A three-run big fly off the bat of Seamons preceded hits by
Justin Mazzone and
Dominic Signorelli, and a three-run shot over the wall in center by Way capped the scoring in the inning.
Chavarria struck out two in the fourth and two in the fifth before handing the ball over to
Lucas Gregory in the sixth. The junior worked a scoreless inning and was replaced by
Jantzen Lucas in the seventh. EOU struck for one in the inning to make it 10-1.
Dale Takalo struck out the first two batters he faced in the top of the eighth to help hold the Mounties, and
Pu'ukani De Sa scored on an error to end the game in the eighth.
Way led LC with three hits, and both he and Linscott drove in four runs. Nagle, Linscott, White, Threlfall and Seamons each had two hits, and the Warriors combined for four home runs and eight doubles.
Chavarria struck out six in his five innings without walking a batter. The LC bullpen, Gregory, Lucas and Takalo, fanned four.
The Warriors are scheduled to wrap up the series with EOU on Monday in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
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