PORTLAND, Ore. – No. 3 LC State Baseball saw its historic winning streak come to an end with Saturday's twin bill split with Corban University. The visiting Warriors were edged 3-2 by defending Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon, but bounced back with 15 runs and a stellar performance out of the bullpen by
Trevin Hope in game two.
With the split, LC State is 35-2 overall and 6-1 in Cascade Conference play.
"Nice to rebound in game two after we dropped the opener," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "Really proud of our team for the winning streak. Now, it's time to turn the page and finish the road trip on a positive note tomorrow."
GAME ONE: Corban def. LC State 3-2
Starter
Dawson Day settled in after allowing a run in the first. He struck out the side in order in the third, then faced the minimum in fourth with the help of a strikeout and
Jack Sheward's second runner caught stealing of the contest. Day continued to mow through the Corban lineup with two punchouts in the fifth.
Aidan Nagle added his third home run in two games to tie things up in the top of the sixth. The senior drilled a ball to center to make it 1-1.
Corban regained the lead in the sixth after an LC State pitching change, but
Greg Blackman limited the damage with a strikeout to end the frame.
The visiting Warriors answered in the next half inning to even the score once again.
Matt James reached on a Corban error before advancing on a groundout by
Pu'ukani De Sa.
Riley Way drove in the second LC run of the contest to bring the score to 2-2.
The back-and-forth continued in the home half of the seventh when Corban used small ball to take a 3-2 lead.
Eli Shubert came on in the eighth, and a stellar play by De Sa at third helped keep Corban from adding on.
LC was unable to score in the ninth and dropped the contest 3-2.
Day went five strong innings and struck out nine. He allowed one run on three hits. Blackman was credited with the loss after allowing two in two innings.
GAME TWO: LC State def. Corban 15-3
Way got the offense going early with a double to start the game. He took third on a botched pickoff attempt and scored on an RBI-groundout by Nagle. Corban answered with two in the bottom of the first to lead after the first inning. The hosting Warriors added a run in the second to grow the difference to 3-1.
The Corban pitching staff struggled to find the zone in the fourth inning, hitting two and walking five to bring in four LC State runs. The LC Warriors batted around and tied the program record for runs scored in an inning without a hit.
Eric Chavarria struck out two in the fourth to keep LC in front.
Justin Mazzone doubled down the left field line to help add on in fifth. Courtesy runner
Joe Canty took third on a flyout before scoring on a sacrifice fly by De Sa to give LC a 6-3 advantage. Chavarria made it a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the inning with two more strikeouts.
The lead grew in the sixth.
Sam Linscott walked before stealing his 20
th base of the season, then scored on a single through the left side by
Luke White.
Zach Threlfall doubled and Mazzone walked before a single by James plated two. De Sa loaded the bases with a base hit before Way cleared them with a double into the left field corner to push the lead to 12-3.
Trevin Hope came out of the LC bullpen in the sixth and worked around two hits. He was quick in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts. He fanned two more, both looking, in the eighth.
Singles by
A.J. Davis and Linscott got the momentum going for the LC Warriors in the top of the ninth, and both came around to score on a double into the right field corner off the bat of White. Threlfall kept the inning going with a base hit, and White scored on a groundout by Mazzone.
Hope closed the door on Corban with two more punchouts in the ninth to earn the save. He finished his outing with seven strikeouts in four innings. Chavarria collected the win after striking out six in five innings.
Threlfall tallied three hits, while Way and White each knocked in four runs.
LC wraps up the series with Corban on Sunday at 11 a.m.
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