LEWISTON, Idaho – The LC State bats were hot in the Warriors' second game of the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Avista, on Tuesday. LC tallied five home runs, led by two from
Nick Seamons, in the 18-9 victory over third-seeded Doane (Neb.). With the win, the Warriors advance to the Opening Round title game on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Dawson Day gave LC a solid five-inning start and struck out eight.
"Dawson gave us a great start that allowed our offense to get into the game early," Head Coach
Jake Taylor said. "We made some untimely mistakes that allowed them to get back into the game, but ultimately we made some pitches when we needed to and the offense continued to apply pressure. We are excited to advance to the title round."
Day collected a pair of strikeouts in a hitless first inning before Doane took a 2-0 lead in the second.
The LC State offense caught fire in the top of the third when
Riley Way and
Aidan Nagle went deep on back-to-back pitches to tie the game.
Sam Linscott doubled off the top of the batter's eye on the next pitch of the game and scored the go-ahead on a double off the bat of
Zach Threlfall.
Nick Seamons continued his tear with a two-run blast to make it 5-2.
The Warriors added to the damage in the fourth with six more runs. Way walked for the second time in the contest and Linscott singled bring in a run. White drilled a ball into the left field bleachers for a two-run shot, and
Justin Mazzone followed with a single. Seamons homered for the second straight inning to push the advantage to 11-2.
Linscott scored in the top of the fifth in a base hit by Mazzone, but Doane tallied two to cut the LC lead to 12-4.
LC State made it a 10-run game once again with two in the sixth.
A.J. Davis led the frame off with a hard line drive off the pitcher to reach on an infield single and raced all the way to third on a passed ball. Way reached on a fielder's choice that caught Davis in a rundown, but smart baserunning and defensive miscues allowed the run to score. Nagle brought in Way with an RBI-groundout to make it 14-4.
The Tigers took advantage of LC State errors in the home half of the sixth and added five runs to their total, all unearned.
Eli Shubert took over in the seventh and struck out two in a quick inning. The junior worked out of a bases-loaded jam to get out of the eighth unscathed.
The Warriors added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by
Matt James. Linscott, who singled in the inning, scored on an error by Doane, and another blunder by the Tigers' short stop kept the inning alive. Davis singled to knock in a run before Seamons scored on a wild pitch to bring the lead to 18-9.
Shubert shut the door on Doane with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the three-inning save.
Linscott led the Warriors with five hits, while Seamons led with four RBI on his pair of two-run home runs. Linscott stole two bases to improve to a perfect 25-for-25 on the year.
Day earned his ninth win of the season after striking out eight in five innings. Shubert fanned four in his three innings for his fifth save.
The Warriors will take on the winner of tomorrow's first game in the championship game of the Opening Round at 2:30 p.m.
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. 2 Vanguard def. No. 5 Saint Katherine 8-3
Game 5 – 2:30 p.m. | No. 1 LC State def. No. 3 Doane 18-9
Game 6 – 6 p.m. | No. 4 UBC vs. No. 2 Vanguard
Wednesday's Games:
Game 7 – 11 a.m. | G6 Winner vs. No. 3 Doane
Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. | No. 1 LC State vs. G7 Winner (championship)
Thursday's Games:
Game 9 – 11 a.m. | If necessary (championship)
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