LEWISTON, Idaho – It came down to the wire, but the top-seeded LC State Warriors prevailed over fourth-seeded UBC for the seventh time this season. In the most important meeting between the two Cascade Conference foes this season, a three-run home run by
Nick Seamons proved to be the difference in the 9-7 victory. The Warrior advance in the winners bracket and will take on third-seeded Doane (Neb.) at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
"Tremendous baseball game played by both teams this evening," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "We pitched well when we had to in order to work out of multiple situations throughout the game. Offensively we were fantastic with two outs."
A line drive to
A.J. Davis on the first pitch started the game and a ranging defensive play by
Riley Way at short helped keep UBC off the board in the top of the first.
The Warriors struck first with a five-spot in the home half of the inning.
Aidan Nagle sparked the big inning with a base hit up the middle and took second on a groundout.
Luke White walked before
Justin Mazzone and
Zach Threlfall tallied back-to-back singles to give LC an edge.
Nick Seamons stepped to the plate with two on and smashed a three-run shot over the signs in left center to give the Warriors a 5-0 lead after one inning.
Base hits by
Pu'ukani De Sa and White put another run on the board for LC State in the second, and UBC brought a run across in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-1.
The Thunderbirds added on in the fifth with a two-run double off the bat of Noah Or.
LC State manufactured a pair of insurance runs in the next half inning, starting with a walk to Threlfall. Seamons singled up the middle and a sacrifice bunt by Davis moved both into scoring position. A wild pitch brought Threlfall across, and a walk to Way was followed by an RBI-single off the bat of Nagle. After five innings, the Warriors led 8-3.
Despite three strikeouts by
Trent Sellers in the sixth, UBC tacked on a run to make it an 8-4 contest in favor of LC.
Cameron Smith came on in the seventh and struck out a batter in a scoreless inning.
Davis added to his hit-by-pitch record to start the bottom of the seventh and scored on a single through the right side by Nagle.
Warrior pitching ran into some struggles in the eighth and gave up three to make it a two-run game, 9-7.
Greg Blackman closed out the game in the ninth without incident to send LC home with the victory.
Nagle led the Warriors with three hits, while Seamons had two hits and three RBI. Sellers fanned six through six innings to earn his 12
th win of the season, and Blackman earned the save.
LC State will take on third-seeded Doane (Neb.) at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Tigers upset second-seeded Vanguard (Calif.) 3-1 in Monday's second game.
Monday's Results:
Game 1 – No. 4 UBC def. No. 5 Saint Katherine (Calif.) 15-2
Game 2 – No. 3 Doane (Neb.) def. No. 2 Vanguard (Calif.) 3-1
Game 3 – No. 1 LC State (Idaho) def. No. 4 UBC 9-7
Tuesday's Games:
Game 4 – 11 a.m. | No. 5 Saint Katherine vs. No. 2 Vanguard
Game 5 – 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 Doane vs. No. 1 LC State
Game 6 – 6 p.m. | No. 4 UBC vs. G4 Winner
Wednesday's Games:
Game 7 – 11 a.m. | G6 Winner vs. G5 Loser
Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. |G5 Winner vs. G7 Winner (championship)
Thursday's Games:
Game 9 – 11 a.m. | If necessary (championship)
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