LEWISTON – The much-anticipated home-opener for No. 3 Lewis-Clark State Baseball did not disappoint. The Warrior faithful were treated to a 16-run performance by the LC State offense and a dominant start on the mound by Drake George. LC defeated UBC 16-2 to open the four-game non-conference series.
Warrior Baseball tallied 16 hits, with seven going for extra bases, in the victory to improve to 6-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
LC State put up five in the first inning to take control early. Brandon Cabrera and Nick Seamons were each hit by a pitch before a fielder’s choice off the bat of Charlie Updegrave put runners on the corners. Jake Gish sent a single to right to plate the game’s first run.
Dominic Signorelli, Pu’ukani De Sa and Bulla Ephan struck for three straight doubles to push the Warrior lead to 5-0 after an inning of play.
Starter Drake George struck out a pair in the top of the second and LC State went back to work at the plate. Carter Booth doubled to lead off the frame, Seamons reached on an error and Gish reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. A walk to De Sa made it 6-0.
Highlight reel defensive plays by Charlie Updegrave in right field and Drake George on the mound helped LC State hold UBC scoreless.
The Warriors put up another five spot in the home half of the third to push the advantage to 11-0.
Ike George walked and Cabrera singled up the middle. Cabrera stole second and Ike George scored on an error on the play for the first run of the inning. Booth walked to put two on before Seamons sent a ball over the wall in center for his first home run of the season.
Updegrave kept the inning going with a walk and Gish and Signorelli tallied two straight hits to cap the inning.
UBC put its first run on the board in the top of the fifth, but LC State quickly got in back and more in the bottom of the inning.
Signorelli walked and Ephan singled before Alex Sol took over on the bases as the courtesy runner. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position. A groundout by Ike George and base hit by Cabrera made it 13-1.
The Warriors added on in the bottom of the seventh after the Thunderbirds tallied a run in the top of the inning. Cabrera reached via a fielder’s choice and Booth walked to put two on ahead of a two-RBI double by Nick Seamons.
Tucker Grote struck out the second batter of his outing in the eighth to work around a walk and an error, and LC State plated one more run in the eighth. Magnum Hofstetter singled in his plate appearance of the day and took second on a wild pitch before scoring on a single by Jack Sheward.
Cabrera, Seamons, Updegrave, Gish, Signorelli and Ephan each had two hits in the contest. Seamons drove in five runs and De Sa knocked in three.
Drake George earned his first win of the season after tossing six innings. He struck out six, walked one and gave up one earned run. Grote earned the three-inning save and struck out four batters.
UP NEXT
The Warriors continue the non-conference series on Saturday with a doubleheader slated for a noon start.
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