LEWISTON, ID – LC State Baseball continued to swing the bat well on Saturday to complete the weekend sweep of the Corban University (Ore.) Warriors with scores of 3-0 and 17-6. The 24th-ranked LC State Warriors have won eight straight with back-to-back Cascade Conference sweeps.
The wins improve the LC State record to 14-7 on the season and 11-2 in Cascade Conference play.
GAME ONE: No. 24 LC State def. Corban 3-0
The game was scoreless through the first three innings, aided by a timely strikeout by Jantzen Lucas and double play turned to get LC State out of a jam in the third.
LC State put the first run of the game on the board with two outs in the top of the fourth. Bulla Ephan was hit by a pitch and Seth Nelson took over on the bases as the courtesy runner. Dominic Signorelli walked to keep the inning going and a base hit by Abe Affholter gave the LC Warriors a 1-0 edge.
Dynamic defense at short by Anthony Karagiannopoulos kept Corban off the bases in the bottom of the frame.
Affholter drove in his second run of the day with an RBI-double in the top of the sixth. Ephan reached on a fielder’s choice and Nelson took over on the bases once again. He scored on the ball hit to left to grow the LC State advantage to 2-0.
LC State added another run in the top of the seventh with the help of a Corban error. Jack Sheward reached and advanced to second on the miscue, then avoided the tag at the plate to score on a base hit by Jakob Marquez.
Robby Butenschoen came out of the bullpen in the seventh and worked three scoreless frames. A double play and a strikeout ended the contest.
STAT RECAP
Affholter drove in two runs on two hits and Updegrave also tallied a pair of hits.
Lucas earned the win after six innings. He allowed just three hits in the combined shutout. Butenschoen fanned three in three innings without allowing a hit.
GAME TWO: No. 24 LC State def. Corban 17-6
A sacrifice fly had Corban on the board first in the bottom of the first inning and the visiting Warriors threatened for more with the bases loaded before a strikeout by Joey Estrada got LC State out of the inning.
LC State tallied a run in the top of the second inning that started with back-to-back walks to Garrett Bevacqua and Affholter. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position and a groundout by Signorelli brought in a run. An infield hit by Ike George plated another run for a 2-1 LC State advantage.
Two more runs came in for the LC Warriors in the top of the fourth. Karagiannapoulos and George singled and Sheward knocked in both with a double to left center. LC State led 4-2 after allowing a run in the bottom of the fourth.
Affholter doubled in the fifth and came around to score on a base hit by Karagiannopoulos to push the LC State lead to 5-2. Bevacqua singled and Affholter was hit by a pitch, and both came around on a double by John Paul Avila. Doubles by Updegrave and Izzy Madariaga were followed by a knock by Affholter to push the margin to 10-2 in the top of the seventh.
Corban picked up its offensive presence in the bottom of the seventh and scored four runs on four hits. The surge cut the difference to 10-6.
LC State answered in a big way with five runs in the top of the eighth.
George and Jordan Justice were both walked, and Updegrave singled to load the bases. Marquez sent a sacrifice fly to left and a base hit by Madariaga plated another. Kai Pagan stepped to the plate next and crushed the first home run of his career to right, a three-run shot, for a 15-6 lead.
Levi Anderson induced a double play to work through the bottom of the eighth without a run and LC State added a pair in the top of the ninth. Bryce Johnson was hit by a pitch and Isaiah Chacon drew a walk. Alex Sol took over on the bases and Johnson scored on a double by Madariaga. A wild pitch brought in LC State’s 17th run.
Anderson closed out the contest with another scoreless frame.
STAT RECAP
Madariaga led the Warriors with three hits and four RBI in the contest. Pagan drove in three with his home run while George, Sheward, Updegrave, Affholter and Karagiannopoulos each tallied two hits.
Estrada went 3.2 innings and struck out three batters. Kolby Solomon earned the win in 1.1 innings with one hit allowed.
