LEWISTON – Seventh-ranked Lewis-Clark State College Baseball completed the four-game Cascade Conference sweep of visiting Eastern Oregon University on Saturday with wins of 13-9 and 6-3. Carter Booth had an impressive day at the plate with three doubles and two triples to lead the offense.
The wins improve the LC State record to 17-7 overall and 7-1 in CCC play.
GAME ONE: No. 7 LC State def. Eastern Oregon 13-9
The Warriors jumped in front after a quick 1-2-3 top of the first. Carter Booth led off the frame with a double, his conference-leading 13th of the season, and an error put runners on the corners with Nick Seamons reaching. Seamons stole second and before a double by Jake Gish put LC State up 2-0.
Decker Stedman struck out two in another three-up, three-down inning on defense and the Warriors padded the lead in the bottom of the second. Booth doubled in his second straight at-bat and Seamons singled through the left side. A passed ball plated Booth before an error on the play and aggressive baserunning brought Seamons around as well. Gish drew a walk before Dominic Signorelli demolished a ball that landed on the batting cages in right center for a 6-0 lead. The home run was his 11th of the season which leads the CCC.
EOU rallied to cut into the Warrior lead with four runs in the top of the third. The Mounties took advantage of an LC State error and tallied three hits to make it a two-run difference.
An error by Eastern Oregon factored into LC State runs in the bottom of the third. Jack Sheward tripled to start the inning and a sacrifice fly by Booth plated courtesy runner Noah Weintraub. Seamons was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a dropped fly ball in right. Gish drove in the run with an infield single to push the Warrior advantage to 8-4.
Two EOU hits plated another Mountie run in the top of the fourth before Hiroyuki Yamada took over on the mound in the fifth and struck out one.
Booth continued to slug his way on base with a triple in the home half of the fifth. He scored on a groundout by Seamons to extend the margin to 9-5.
Yamada surrendered three runs on two hits and two errors before Jake Green came out of the bullpen and induced a flyout to end the threat with the Warriors in front 9-8.
Booth tripled for the second time in the contest to start the bottom of the seventh and scored on a base hit by Seamons to make it a 10-8 game.
EOU continued to come up with clutch hits in the eighth to cut the margin to one run. Cameron Smith came into the game and the Warrior defense saved runs with a force at home before a flyout with the bases loaded ended the threat.
Weintraub sent an RBI double off the wall in left center to knock in Signorelli, who walked to start the bottom of the eighth, to push the lead back to two runs and Pu’ukani De Sa kept things going with a base hit. Weintraub scored on an error on the play. Leo Rivera and Booth each walked and Seamons drove in a run with a base hit to give LC a 13-9 advantage heading into the ninth inning.
Smith struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth to earn his second save of the weekend. Yamada earned the win after tossing 2.2 innings.
Booth led the offense with a 4-for-4 game with two doubles, two triples and four runs scored. Seamons and Gish each went 3-for-5 and each drove in three runs. The three triples in the game (two by Booth and one by Sheward) tied the LC State record for the most in one game.
GAME TWO: No. 7 LC State def. Eastern Oregon 6-3
Eastern Oregon scored first in game two, but LC State erased the 1-0 deficit with a run in the home half of the frame. Booth notched his fifth extra-base hit of the day with a leadoff double and scored on a base hit down the right field line by Seamons.
Starter Jadon Williamson worked 1-2-3 second and third innings, with two strikeouts in the third, and the Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the third. Seamons doubled down the left field line and scored on a base hit by Signorelli for a 2-1 advatange.
EOU tied things up in the fifth with a pair of hits. Tucker Grote came on in relief and struck out a batter to end the frame. He fanned one more in the sixth to keep the game tied.
The Warriors regained the lead in the home half of the sixth with four runs. A throwing error allowed Weintraub to reach before he scored on a single by Jakob Marquez. Alex Sol took over on the bases for Marquez and a walk to Booth put two one. Seamons singled to knock in a run and a wild pitch plated Booth. An RBI-double by Gish gave LC State a 6-2 lead through six innings.
Landon Webb made his Warrior debut on the mound in the top of the seventh and struck out a batter. Dallas McGill struck out two in the top of the eighth.
Eli Takalo was handed the baseball in the top of the ninth and Warrior errors allowed one run to score before Takalo struck out the side. Grote earned the win after tossing 1.2 innings. Warrior pitching combined for 11 strikeouts.
Seamons led the Warriors with three hits and two RBI in the contest. Booth, Signorelli and Gish each had two hits. Booth and Seamons each scored twice.
UP NEXT
The Warriors are in Klamath Falls next weekend to take on Oregon Tech in a four-game Cascade Conference series.
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