CALDWELL, Idaho – No. 7 LC State Baseball split its Cascade Conference opening doubleheader with The College of Idaho on Saturday in a tale of two games. The Warrior offense exploded in game one while pitching shut out the Yotes 10-0 in seven innings, but struggles on the mound gave C of I a 7-6 win in game two.
Charlie Updegrave had a standout day with seven hits including a 5-for-5 performance in game one.
Jack Sheward hit a grand slam in the first game, while both Updegrave and
Brandon Cabrera homered in the second.
GAME ONE: No. 7 LC State def. C of I 10-0 (7 inn.)
Evan Canfield was lights out through his first four innings and did not allow a hit during those frames. LC State got the scoring started early to support the pitching.
Ike George drew a walk to lead off the game and took second on a groundout by
Noah Weintraub. A base hit by Updegrave plated the first run of the contest. Canfield faced the minimum through the first two innings on the mound.
The Warriors tacked on two more runs in the fourth. An error put
Abe Affholter on base and
Bulla Ephan singled to put two on.
Spencer Zeller took over on the bases for Ephan and Affholter scored on a base hit by
Anthony Karagiannopoulos. Zeller stole third and an error by the first baseman plated another run for a 3-0 LC State lead.
Updegrave and
Dominic Signorelli led off the fifth with back-to-back doubles. A groundout by Affholter knocked in Updegrave to make it 4-0.
Jackson Cloud took over on the mound in the home half of the frame to get LC State out of a jam without allowing a run.
The Warriors more than doubled their lead in the sixth inning with five runs. George walked and Weintraub and Updegrave tallied singles to knock in a run. Signorelli walked to load the bases and Sheward notched his first home run of the season in grand fashion. His grand slam put LC State in front 9-0.
Cloud worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth and the Warriors scored again in the seventh when Weintraub walked and scored from first on a double by Updegrave.
Tucker Grote took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and struck out two to end the game.
STAT RECAP
Updegrave was unstoppable with five hits, including two doubles, and three RBI. Signorelli tallied two hits and Sheward drove in four with his grand slam.
Canfield earned the win after tossing 4.2 innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out four. Cloud did not allow a hit in his 1.1 innings and Grote fanned two in his frame.
GAME TWO: C of I def. No. 7 LC State 7-6
Warrior pitching struggled after a hot start by the offense in game two. Updegrave led off the second with a solo shot before doubles by
Jakob Marquez and
Garrett Bevacqua made it 2-0 in favor of LC State.
The Yotes answered to tie things up with three hits in the bottom of the second.
Updegrave notched his seventh hit of the day with a leadoff single in the fourth. He took second on a passed ball and scored on a base hit off the bat of
Izzy Madariaga. The Warriors added three more runs in the fifth after a walk to Karagiannopoulos and hit by Weintraub put two on. Cabrera broke out of his slump with a three-run blast to give LC State a 6-3 lead.
Pitching struggled for LC State in the bottom of the seventh. Five walks in the inning, along with an error and two hits, evened the score 6-6.
The Yotes took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning and held off the Warriors in the ninth.
STAT RECAP
Updegrave led the Warriors with two hits and Cabrera knocked in three runs.
Jantzen Lucas tossed 3.2 innings in his start and allowed two runs.
Joey Estrada allowed four unearned runs in three innings, and
Kolby Solomon took the loss after allowing the go-ahead run.
UP NEXT
The Warriors continue the series with the Yotes on Sunday, weather permitting, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. at Wolfe Field.
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