LEWISTON, ID – Despite not factoring into the win in the box score, Jadon Williamson made a major statistical impact with 14 strikeouts in just five innings on the mound. The senior struck out the side in four of his five innings, with the lone outlier being a frame with just two strikeouts. Jackson Cloud and Kolby Solomon took care of the rest with shutout relief outings in the 6-3 victory over College of Idaho.
Lewis-Clark State Baseball opened the four-game Cascade Conference series with the win to improve to 25-10 overall and 21-5 in CCC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
C of I took advantage of pitching miscues in the top of the first, but three strikeouts by Williamson limited the damage. He struck out the side in the second before two more in the third. Through three innings, the senior had eight strikeouts.
Ike George evened the score in the bottom of the third. Noah Weintraub walked and took second base on a wild pitch. He moved to third on a groundout before a line drive to center by George plated the tying run.
The Yotes plated two more in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. Cloud came out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth in relief of Williamson.
LC State answered in the bottom of the sixth innings. Charlie Updegrave led off the frame with a double to left center and Brandon Cabrera walked. Back-to-back singles by Dominic Signorelli and Noah Weintraub tied the game 3-3. A groundout by Abe Affholter plated the go-ahead as Signorelli came in to score.
The Warriors added on with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. George was hit by a pitch and took second and third on wild pitches. Sheward made it a 5-3 advantage.
Cloud struck out two in the top of the eighth and LC State grew its lead in the home half of the inning.
Garrett Bevacqua notched a pinch-hit single and Alex Sol took over on the bases. Seth Nelson was hit by a pitch and George drove in Sol with a base hit to right for a 6-3 cushion.
Kolby Solomon took over on the mound in the top of the ninth and a double play ended the game.
STAT RECAP
Williamson impressed with his 14 punchouts in 22 batters faced. Only one out made in his outing was not a strikeout. The senior allowed three runs on five hits.
Cloud struck out three in his three innings and did not surrender a run. He allowed one hit, as did Solomon in his frame. Cloud earned the win, and Solomon was awarded his third save.
George, Updegrave and Weintraub each tallied two hits and George drove in two runs. George swiped two bags to improve to 17-for-17 on the season and has hit safely in his last 15 games.
