LEWISTON, ID – No. 7 LC State Baseball won the Cascade Conference series against No. 24 British Columbia with a doubleheader split on Saturday. Warrior pitching nearly shut out the Thunderbirds in a low-scoring first contest before both offenses erupted in the night cap.
The Warriors used timely hitting and used strong outings from Jadon Williamson, Jantzen Lucas and Kolby Solomon for a 2-1 win in game one. UBC outslugged LC State in game two to defeat the Warriors 20-10 in seven innings.
LC State sits at 6-6 overall and 4-2 in Cascade Conference play.
GAME ONE: No. 7 LC State def. No. 24 UBC 2-1
Williamson worked a 1-2-3 first inning and the Warrior defense stepped up in the second. With runners on the corners, UBC attempted a double steal but a play at the plate kept the game scoreless through two innings.
Jantzen Lucas took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning after five scoreless frames by Williamson. He recorded the first two outs before the defense left two runners on. Lucas struck out two in the seventh.
Jakob Marquez notched the first Warrior hit of the day with a leadoff single in the eighth and Izzy Madariaga was hit by a pitch. A fielder’s choice erased the lead runner and a fielder’s choice on a ball hit by Garrett Bevacqua put runners on the corners with two outs. Jack Sheward knocked in the first run of the game with a two-out double.
UBC evened the score in the home half of the eighth with a solo shot by Trent Linehan.
Dominic Signorelli worked a two-out walk in the top of the ninth and took second on a passed ball. Marquez tallied his second hit of the day with an RBI single to regain the lead for LC State and Kolby Solomon had a 2-1 advantage to work with in the home half of the inning.
Solomon worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth and ended the contest on a strikeout.
STAT RECAP
Marquez recorded two of LC State’s three hits in the contest.
Williamson earned his second win of the season after tossing five shutout innings. He struck out four and allowed one hit. Lucas threw three innings and struck out three, and Solomon earned his first save in his one frame.
GAME TWO: No. 24 UBC def. No. 7 LC State 20-10 (7 inn.)
It took LC State just two batters to score the first run of the second half of the twin bill. Brandon Cabrera led off the with a single and stole second, then back-to-back doubles by Charlie Updegrave and Sheward had the Warriors in front 2-0 without an out being recorded. A groundout moved Sheward to third before a passed ball made it 3-0.
Madariaga kept the top of the first going with a double to left center, then scored on a base hit up the middle by Bulla Ephan. LC State led 4-0 after the top of the first.
UBC answered with a five spot in the home half of the inning to take a 5-4 lead on four hits and an error. The Thunderbirds added on in the third with nine runs to make it 14-4.
Updegrave went deep to lead off the top of the fifth and singles by Sheward, Signorelli and Marquez made it four hits in a row to plate a pair of runs. Abe Affholter doubled to drive in one more to cut the deficit to 14-7. He helped LC State add on in the seventh with a three-run blast. Signorelli singled and Madariaga walked before Affholter brought the Warriors within four, 14-10.
The Thunderbirds ended the contest in the seventh after scoring six runs to bring the run rule into play.
STAT RECAP
Updegrave, Sheward, Signorelli and Affholter each tallied two hits. Affholter drove in four runs to lead LC State.