LEWISTON, ID – A big day at the plate for both Charlie Updegrave and Jack Sheward set up a winner-take-all game on Sunday for the Cascade Conference regular season title. No. 22 LC State Baseball defeated British Columbia 15-7 on Saturday.
With one game left in the regular season, the Warriors and Thunderbirds are tied with 28-8 records in CCC play. The winner of Sunday’s contest earns the CCC title and the right to host the Cascade Conference postseason tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Russell Young gave UBC a 2-0 lead single-handedly with solo home runs in the first and third innings.
LC State answered in the bottom of the third after Ike George started the offense with a base hit. Updegrave tied the score with a two-run shot to left.
The Warriors busted the game open with a six-run bottom of the fourth. Brandon Cabrera was hit by a pitch and Izzy Madariaga walked to put two on. A single by Noah Weintraub loaded the bases before a walk to Dominic Signorelli brought in the go-ahead run. Bulla Ephan made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.
Sheward kept the inning going with an RBI-single, and Updegrave upped the score with a three-run home run, his second big fly of the game, to make it an 8-2 advantage through four innings.
LC State added on in the fifth. Weintraub walked to lead off the frame, Ephan singled and George walked to load the bases. Sheward cleared the bases with a three-RBI double off the wall in left center to grow the lead to 11-2.
Jake Green took over on the mound and induced a 5-2-3 double play to minimize damage in the top of the seventh. British Columbia scored three runs between the sixth and seventh to cut the LC State advantage to 11-5.
Ephan made highlight reel catch at the backstop to end the top of the eighth and the Warriors tacked four more runs in the home half of the inning. Cabrera and Madariaga walked and Cabrera stole third. A wild pitch had both in scoring position and Signorelli drove in the pair with a base hit to right. John Paul Avila, George and Sheward tallied three straight hits for a 15-5 advantage through eight innings.
The Thunderbirds struck for a pair of runs in the ninth, but Green closed things out to finish off the game.
STAT RECAP
Sheward had three hits and both Sheward and Updegrave drove in five runs.
Lucas earned his sixth win of the season behind five strikeouts in six innings. Green earned the save with the final three innings thrown.
