LEWISTON, ID – No. 20 LC State and Oregon Tech set school records on Saturday with a marathon 17-inning game to end the Cascade Conference twin bill. The Warriors scored three runs in their final two at-bats to take game one 6-3, but OIT outlasted LC State 6-5 in the longest game in each school’s history in game two.
The split has the LC State record at 18-9 overall and 15-4 in CCC play.
GAME ONE: No. 20 LC State def. Oregon Tech 6-3
Oregon Tech’s Tyler Horner tallied the first run of the contest with a solo shot in the top of the first inning, but LC State answered in the home half of the inning to tie things up. Ike George led off with a hit up the middle and Jack Sheward doubled to left center to put two in scoring position. Charlie Updegrave grounded out to plate George and tie the game 1-1.
Starting pitcher Evan Canfield struck out the first two batters in the second looking as part of a 1-2-3 frame. OIT struck for two runs in the third to regain the lead, but Canfield settled back in with two strikeouts in the fourth.
The Warriors evened things up in the bottom of the fifth. Anthony Karagianopoulos led off the inning with a base hit to left and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Sheward had runners on the corners. Updegrave ripped a ball up the middle to bring the Warriors within one and Noah Weintraub tied the game with a hard-hit double into left field.
The LC State defense helped Canfield through a quick top of the sixth. Jackson Cloud came out of the bullpen with two on and two outs in the top of the seventh and got the Warriors out of jam to keep the game tied.
Updegrave gave the Warriors their first lead of the day with a leadoff blast to start the bottom of the seventh. The senior’s 11th home run of the season landed in the bleachers in left field to make it 4-3.
A strikeout stranded an OIT runner in the top of the eighth inning and LC State grew its lead in the home half of the inning. Dominic Signorelli walked and scored from first on a double off the wall in left center by Bulla Ephan. Seth Nelson moved courtesy runner Spencer Zeller to third with a flyout and George made it 6-3 with an RBI single.
Cloud struck out a pair in the top of the ninth to end the game.
STAT RECAP
Updegrave drove in three runs to lead the Warriors while George, Updegrave and Weintraub each had two hits.
Canfield tossed 6.2 innings and struck out seven. Cloud earned the win with 2.1 innings on the mound and three strikeouts. He did not allow a run or hit.
GAME TWO: Oregon Tech def. No. 20 LC State 6-5 (17 inn.)
Jadon Williamson struck out two to start a 1-2-3 top of the second and the Warriors got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Jakob Maquez singled up the middle to start the frame and Alex Sol took over on the bases. He scored from first on a double off the wall in right center off the bat of Signorelli.
Updegrave reached on a fielder’s choice and hustled to score from first on a double by Marquez. The Warriors led 2-0 through three innings.
OIT tallied an unearned run in the top of the fourth after an error put a runner on. A walk and two hits plated the first run of the game for the Owls to cut the LC State lead to 2-1.
The Warriors added on in the bottom of the fifth after a pair of hit-by-pitches put George and Updegrave on base. Marquez sent a single through the right side to knock in George for a 3-1 edge.
Oregon Tech tied the game in the top of the seventh with a two-RBI base hit.
Updegrave repeated his go-ahead home run in game one with one in the same situation in game two. The senior stepped to the plate in a 3-3 tie and drove an opposite-field solo shot to left to put the Warriors up 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
A sharply turned double play got LC State out of a jam in the top of the eighth, but not before the Owls plated a run to tie the game 4-4. Kolby Solomon induced the ground ball on the first batter he faced out of the bullpen and kept Oregon Tech off the board through the ninth.
A two-out home run by OIT’s Julien Jones put the Owls in front in the top of the 10th, and Signorelli answered with a solo shot of his own to knot the score 5-5 and send the game into the 11th inning.
Jace Taylor worked a 1-2-3 top of the 11th that included two strikeouts and struck out another in a quick 12th. The senior fanned two more in the 13th. Landon Webb took over in the 14th and tossed three scoreless innings before OIT struck for a run in the top of the 17th.
LC State did not score in the bottom of the 17th inning.
STAT RECAP
Marquez tallied four hits to lead LC State. Marquez and Signorelli each drove in two runs.
Williamson struck out five in 6.1 innings. Robby Butenschoen allowed one hit in his one inning of relief and Solomon struck out two in his 2.2 innings. Taylor was the lone Warrior to not allow a run. He struck out five in three innings without a walk and allowed one hit. Webb threw well, despite earning the loss, with three strikeouts and three hits allowed in four innings.
