KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – (Release from LC State College Athletics) The fourth-seeded LC State Warriors opened the postseason with a loud 14-2 victory over top-seeded Oregon Tech before dropping a 4-2 battle with No. 2 seed UBC in the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. The Warriors will take on the winner of College of Idaho and OIT on Monday.
The LC State bats came alive against OIT behind Trevin Hope’s 11-strikeout performance. The Warriors tallied 16 hits but could only muster six in the second contest.
“Trevin was dominant in his start and Jantzen (Lucas) was great out of the pen. Offensively we stayed aggressive and had production throughout our lineup,” Head Coach Jake Taylor said of game one. “We worked behind in the count early in the second game and UBC capitalized when the count was in their favor. GT (Blackman) and Bryson (Spagnuolo) were both excellent and shut down UBC the rest of the way. Offensively we failed to hold the zone and chased elevated fastballs too frequently.”
With the split, LC State is 30-15 on the season.
No. 4 Seed LC State def. No. 1 Seed Oregon Tech 14-2 (8 INN)
Hope struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning. The sophomore limited OIT damage in the second to one unearned run with a pair of strikeouts.
The Warriors answered in the top of the third to even the game 1-1. Leo Rivera drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a double by Carter Booth. Nick Seamons drove in the first LC run of the tournament with a sacrifice fly.
Hope continued his outing by striking out the side in order in the home half of the third.
Isaiah Thomas and Jakob Marquez tallied back-to-back singles before a walk to Dominic Signorelli loaded the bases in the fourth. Pu’ukani De Sa put the Warriors in front with a single through the right side. Seamons picked up two more RBI with a base hit up the middle, and a pair of RBI-singles by Sam Olsson and Charlie Updegrave had LC up 6-1 by the end of the frame.
Hope got the Warriors out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back strikeouts. He fanned two more as part of a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth.
LC State added on in the sixth to blow the game open. Olsson was hit by a pitch, Updegrave reached on a fielder’s choice and Thomas walked to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Marquez plated the first run of the inning, and De Sa made it 10-1 with a three-run blast.
Julien Jones notched a solo homer in the home half of the sixth before a walk brought Jantzen Lucas out of the bullpen. The lefty induced three straight groundballs to end the threat. Lucas picked up two strikeouts in the seventh.
The Warriors put together a two-out rally in the eighth. De Sa singled and Carter Booth was hit by a pitch before Seamons came to the plate and launched a two-out three-run home run. Olsson blasted a solo shot directly after to make it 14-2.
Lucas added two strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth to end the contest and earn a three-inning save. He struck out four in his outing and Hope fanned a career-high 11 to earn the win.
De Sa led the offense with a 4-for-5 day at the plate with four RBI and Seamons drove in six runs on three hits.
No. 2 Seed UBC def. No. 4 Seed LC State 4-2
UBC struck for the first three runs of the contest before a solo shot by Updegrave cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
The Thunderbirds added a run in the fifth to pull ahead 4-1. Greg Blackman had a strong outing out of the bullpen, but the LC offense was unable to respond until the bottom of the eighth.
Signorelli singled to start the Warriors’ half of the eighth and moved into scoring position on a groundout by Rivera. A base hit by Booth brought LC within two at 4-2.
Bryson Spagnuolo worked a scoreless top of the ninth, but the Warriors did not score in the bottom of the inning.
The Warriors tallied six hits. Booth and Updegrave drove in the two runs. Starter Dallas McGill took the loss after giving up three earned runs. Blackman gave up an unearned run in his 5.2 innings with four strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will take on the winner of College of Idaho and Oregon Tech on Monday at 12:30 p.m. in Klamath Falls in the double-elimination tournament.
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