KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – On what became an historic day for No. 5 LC State Baseball, the Warriors clinched their second straight Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season title with a pair of victories over Oregon Tech on Sunday.
Sam Linscott became the fifth Warrior in program history to hit for the cycle, and
Riley Way and
A.J. Davis solidified their spots in the LC State record book.
Linscott accomplished his feat in game two of the twin bill, including the go-ahead two-run blast in the top of the 10
th. His cycle is the first for LC State since Tyler McDowell in 2018, also against OIT. Way and Davis both added to their career totals in singles and double plays turned and are now rank first and second, respectively, in each category.
The Warriors improve to 45-4 on the season and 16-3 in CCC play.
"We were able to finish off the series today with great competitiveness," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "We will rest up tomorrow and then get back to work so we can be ready for Bushnell."
GAME ONE: LC State def. Oregon Tech 8-2
The first run of the game came early in the first inning.
Riley Way walked to lead things off then came around to score on a double by
Aidan Nagle.
Day started his outing by striking out the side in order, all looking.
Warrior bats stayed hot in the second inning with a leadoff double by
Justin Mazzone.
Joe Canty took over on the bases for the LC catcher and took third on a wild pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly by
Zach Threlfall.
Matt James kept the inning going with a base hit to center before
Coy Stout reached on a dropped fly ball. Way drove in the third run of the game with a line drive up the middle.
A wild pitch put both Stout and Way in scoring position with two outs, and a triple off the wall in right center plated both to give LC a 5-0 advantage. A wild pitch added to the damage as Nagle came around to score.
The Owls went down in order in the second with another strikeout by Day, and another punchout in the third kept OIT off the board. The LC defense put together a three-up, three-down bottom of the fourth.
Linscott led off the fifth with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a fielder's choice that put Mazzone on. Threlfall knocked in Linscott with an infield single to push the advantage to 7-0.
Despite two free passes, Day struck out the side to maintain the seven-run lead in the home half of the inning.
OIT tallied its first hit and run of the contest, but the Warriors got the run back in the next half inning. White opened the frame with a single and eventually came in to score on an error.
Bryson Spagnuolo came into the game in relief in the bottom of the seventh, allowing a run, then turned the ball over to
Alec Holmes in the ninth. Holmes struck out three to end the game.
Nagle led LC with three hits and finished the game a home run shy of the cycle. White, Threlfall and James each notched two hits. Nagle drove in three runs and Threlfall had two RBI.
Day earned his seventh win of the season after striking out eight in six innings. He allowed just one run on two hits. Spagnuolo fanned two in two innings, and Holmes struck out three in one to bring LC's total to 13 strikeouts in the contest.
GAME TWO: LC State def. Oregon Tech 6-4 (10 innings)
Borschowa worked around a leadoff walk in the first and struck out a batter to leave an OIT runner stranded, and LC took the lead in the next half inning. Linscott tripled into the right field corner and scored on an RBI-groundout by White.
The Owls evened the score in the bottom of the third after Kaleb Keelean tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Two strikeouts by the freshman limited the damage.
Back-to-back doubles by Nagle and Linscott put the Warriors back on top in the sixth inning, and a passed ball allowed Linscott to score.
Lucas Gregory was called from the bullpen in the sixth and struck out his first two batters. Three runs came in for OIT in the seventh to put the Owls in front 4-3.
The Warriors responded with a run in the top of the eighth. Linscott singled to get the going and scored on a double by White to bring the score to 4-4.
Eli Shubert worked a 1-2-3 home half of the eighth, and a pair of strikeouts in the ninth helped send the game in extras.
Linscott gave LC the lead in the 10
th and completed the cycle when he followed up a leadoff single by Nagle with a two-run home run. A 4-6-3 double play ended the contest for a 6-4 Warrior victory.
Both Linscott and Mazzone tallied four hits in the contest. Linscott scored four times and drove in three.
Borschowa went five innings and struck out six. He gave up just one run on two hits. Gregory went 1.1 innings and was charged with three runs, and Shubert threw the final 3.2 frames and earned the win.
LC State closes out the regular season at home next weekend when the Warriors host Bushnell. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 10 a.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
