LAKE MYRTLE, Fla. – Warrior Baseball played a pair of close contests against two of the top teams in the NAIA on Friday and fell marginally in both. No. 7 LC State nearly overcame an eight-run deficit in a 12-10 loss to (RV) St. Thomas (Fla.) before No. 11 Southeastern (Fla.) walked off by a final of 3-2 in the night cap.
The LC State offense put up six runs in the ninth inning against the Bobcats in the first contest and benefited from a 4-for-4 game by
Noah Weintraub.
Jadon Williamson threw seven shutout innings against the Fire before Southeastern answered late in the second game of the day.
"Obviously, the outcome didn't go our way today," coach
Jake Taylor said. "The reason we schedule these games early is to see the types of arms and talent the country has to offer. Excited to see how we respond tomorrow with another top tier team."
The losses drop the Warriors to 1-2 on the young season.
GAME ONE: (RV) St. Thomas def. No. 7 LC State 12-10
HOW IT HAPPENED
A double play got the Warriors out of the bottom of the first, and starter
Jantzen Lucas struck out two in a quick second frame.
Brandon Cabrera gave LC State a 3-0 lead in the top of the third with his first home run of the season.
Ike George was hit by a pitch and
Bruer Webster reached on a fielder's choice to put two on for Cabrera's three-run.
St. Thomas got on the board in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double. Lucas limited the damage with a strikeout to end the threat.
The Warriors added on with back-to-back doubles by Weintraub and
Garrett Bevacqua to make it 4-1.
The Bobcats tallied six straight hits and nine total for a big seven-run fourth inning to surge ahead 8-4. STU added two more in the fifth and the seventh.
LC State battled back in the top of the ninth, starting with a leadoff double by Weintraub for his fourth hit of the day. Bevacqua singled and Weintraub scored on a passed ball. George legged out an infield single and a groundout by Webster plated a run. Cabrera doubled to knock in another as the Warriors chipped away at the deficit.
Dominic Signorelli was hit by a pitch to keep the inning alive and
Charlie Updegrave made it a two-run game with a three-run home run. The comeback fell just short in the 12-10 final.
STAT RECAP
Weintraub was locked in with a 4-for-4 day including two doubles. Cabrera drove in four runs on two hits and Updegrave knocked in three with his home run.
Lucas was solid through his first three innings of work and fanned three.
Landon Webb,
Zak Sullivan and
Zachary Allegro all made appearances out of the bullpen.
GAME TWO: No. 11 Southeastern (Fla.) def. No. 7 LC State 3-2
HOW IT HAPPENED
Williamson worked around Southeastern hitters including three quick three-up, three-down frames through the first seven innings.
The Warriors got on the board in the fourth.
Abe Affholter sent a double into left center and
Bulla Ephan singled to put runners on the corners. George put LC State in front 1-0 with a sacrifice fly.
LC State added a run in the sixth after a walk to Signorelli and single by Updegrave put two runners on. A throwing error allowed Weintraub to reach and plated Signorelli for a 2-0 edge.
Southeastern evened the score in the eighth inning with a two-run home run off of Williamson, then walked off the contest in the ninth with an RBI-double off
Jace Taylor.
STAT RECAP
The Warriors tallied three hits with the lone RBI coming from George. Williamson tossed 7.2 innings with six strikeouts and scattered six hits. Taylor struck out a batter in his outing.
UP NEXT
The Warriors wrap up the East/West Challenge on Saturday with a matchup against top-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan at 3 p.m. PT.
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