LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 5 LC State Baseball team took care of business on Wednesday when it defeated UBC 15-7 to clinch its second straight Cascade Conference tournament title. The Warriors tallied 11 runs in the first three innings of the sixth game of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, to create a comfortable lead.
The LC State offense tallied 12 hits against the Thunderbirds pitching staff, led by three from
A.J. Davis.
"It was great to follow up our regular-season league title with the Cascade Conference Championship Tournament title as well," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "Overall, we were pleased with our performance against very competitive teams.
UBC jumped on starter
Drake Borschowa in the top of the first and tallied two runs, but the Warriors took advantage of Thunderbird miscues in the bottom of the frame to take the lead.
Riley Way,
Aidan Nagle and
Sam Linscott drew three straight walks to load the bases before
Luke White put LC on the board with a sacrifice fly. An error put
Justin Mazzone on to reload the bases, and
Nick Seamons tied things up with another sacrifice fly. Linscott raced home on a passed ball and
Matt James drew a walk before being lifted for courtesy runner
Coy Stout.
Clarkston native Davis punched a clutch base hit through the right side to keep the inning going, plating a run in the process. A double steal by Davis and Stout made it 5-2 in favor of the Warriors.
The Warriors added on in the third to grow the advantage to 11-2. A Mazzone single was followed by a two-run shot by James, and Davis kept the momentum going with a double to left center.
Pu'ukani De Sa knocked in Davis with a line drive up the middle and scored on a double off the wall in left by Way. Nagle homered to right to add to the damage.
Borschowa retired UBC in order in the top of the fourth, and Mazzone drilled a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to keep the offensive onslaught going.
Joe Ball took over on the mound in the fifth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning.
The Thunderbirds rallied to cut the LC State lead to five runs, 12-7, in the sixth.
Linscott picked up his 23
rd stolen base of the season (23-for-23) after singling up, and White and Mazzone drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Jaden Phillips wore a pitch off the arm to plate one, and Davis brought in another on a groundout. Stout and Way both were hit by pitches, resulting in a run to give the Warriors a 15-7 advantage through six.
Lucas Gregory,
Harrison Grow and
Alec Holmes each tossed a scoreless frame and allowed one hit each. Gregory earned the win after going 1.1 innings.
Davis led the offense with three hits, while Mazzone and De Sa each had two. Way, Nagle, James and Davis each drove in two runs.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will play in the NAIA Baseball Opening Round, presented by Avista, at Harris Field starting on Monday. The tournament runs May 16-19, and the winner will advance to the Avista NAIA World Series May 27-June 3. The NAIA selection show will air on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT and will reveal who LC will face in the Opening Round.
"We are eager to see the brackets and are anticipating some outstanding teams heading to Lewiston this coming week for the Opening Round," Taylor said. "We will enjoy this tonight and then will have to get right back to work so we can be ready to go."
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
