LEWISTON, Idaho – The Warriors salvaged the second half of Sunday's Cascade Conference doubleheader with Oregon Tech on a three-run walk-off home run by Carter Booth. The junior tallied three hits in the 10-8 victory, and five on the day, to cap the final home series of the regular season. OIT took the opener by a final of 8-6.
LC State is now 20-10 overall and 5-7 in Cascade Conference play.
Prior to the twin bill, the Warriors honored seniors Joe Ball, Greg Blackman, Joe Canty, Alec Holmes, Sam Olsson, Eli Shubert and Bryson Spagnuolo.
"It was great to be able to honor our seven seniors today that have put forth a ton of time and effort into continuing to build the LC program," Head Coach Jake Taylor said. "Nice to see us continue to compete and end up winning the last game. We will be right back on the diamond tomorrow attempting to figure out what type of team we will be down the stretch."
GAME ONE: Oregon Tech def. No. 3 LC State 8-6
The Warriors wasted little time putting a run on the board with a tally in the bottom of the first. Booth led off the frame with a double past the diving right fielder and took third on a flyout by Nick Seamons. A base hit by Pu'ukani De Sa gave LC State a 1-0 advantage.
Decker Stedman was solid on the mound for LC State through his first five innings with just one hit allowed. A pair of singles and an error brought in the tying run for OIT in the top of the sixth before a double plated the go-ahead. A second error in the inning had LC trailing 3-1.
Three more Oregon Tech hits in the seventh added to the deficit to make it a 4-1 contest.
Dominic Signorelli chipped away at the margin with a solo shot to start the home half of the seventh, but the Owls erased the run with one in the eighth.
The Warriors attempted a come back in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run frame. Seamons took advantage of OIT miscues when he reached on an error and took second on a wild pitch. De Sa reached after being hit before a walk to Isaiah Thomas loaded the bases. Olsson singled through the left side to bring in a run before freshman Noah Weintraub evened the score with a two-run single.
Oregon Tech put up three loud runs in the top of the ninth with a pair of home runs to regain the advantage at 8-5.
A single by Seamons put a runner on for an RBI-single by Thomas, but OIT held off a late surge to win 8-6.
Booth, Olsson and Weintraub each tallied two hits in the contest and Weintraub drove in two.
GAME TWO: No. 3 LC State def. Oregon Tech 10-8
OIT struck first with a pair in the first, and LC cut the deficit in half with one in the home half of the inning. Booth and Seamons opened the fame with back-to-back singles. A base hit by Thomas made it a 2-1 game.
The Owls loaded the bases with one out in the top of the second before the ball was handed to Ball out of the bullpen. The senior got LC out of the jam with a flyout and strikeout.
The Warriors tied things up in the third. Thomas doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by Signorelli. Ball worked around a walk with a strikeout in the fourth before sitting OIT down in order in the fifth.
A single and stolen base by Thomas led the way for an RBI-double by Signorelli to give LC a momentary 3-2 lead in the fifth, but timely hitting by the Owls evened things up once more in the next half inning.
The back-and-forth continued in the home half of the sixth. Jack Sheward led the frame off with a single up the middle and Jakob Marquez drove the first pitch he saw over the scoreboard in right to put LC up 5-3. Booth walked and moved to third on a hit by Seamons, then scored on a ball hit by De Sa.
Cole Wilkinson struck out the side in order in the top of the seventh, his first full inning of work, but Oregon Tech rallied to take the lead in the eighth. The Owls struck for five runs on three hits to take an 8-6 advantage into the bottom of the inning.
A double by Cruz Hepburn helped LC State cut the difference to one. The freshman took third on a bad pickoff attempt and scored on an infield single off the bat of Seamons.
Holmes held OIT off the board in the top of the ninth to give LC its chance in the bottom of the frame, and Booth delivered.
Marquez reached on a fielder's choice and Hepburn walked to put two on with two outs. Booth drove the first pitch of his at bat over the wall in right center to end the weekend on a high note.
Booth led the offense with three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Seamons and Thomas also had three hits each in the game, and Thomas stole two bases.
Holmes earned the win after a scoreless ninth inning. Ball had the longest outing with four innings, three strikeouts and one run allowed. Wilkinson struck out three in two innings of work.
UP NEXT
The Warriors travel to Caldwell next weekend for a four-game Cascade Conference series with the College of Idaho.
Stay up to date on all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
