KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Cameron Smith shut the door to help No. 8 LC State Baseball secure a 10-6 victory in the series opener at Oregon Tech. The Warrior closer tossed four shutout innings while 15 LC State hits did the damage on the offensive side.
The Warriors played from behind until a five-run sixth inning, with seven straight two-out hits, brought LC State back into the game.
“Good team road win to start the series,” Head Coach Jake Taylor said. “We displayed poise when we got behind in the middle innings, then came back to take the lead. Cam was very sharp out of the pen for the second week in a row.”
The wins improved the Warriors’ overall record to 18-7. LC State now holds the edge over OIT in Cascade Conference play with an 8-1 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Oregon Tech grabbed the momentum in the early innings thanks to solid pitching from starter Patrick Arman. The Owls took advantage of an LC State error to score the game’s first run in the second before Charlie Updegrave tied things up with a solo shot in the fourth. OIT regained the lead with a solo homer in the next half-inning.
Pu’ukani De Sa led off the fifth with a game-tying home run, but the Owls struck for four runs on five hits in the home half of the frame to take a 6-2 lead.
LC State answered in the top of sixth with five runs on seven consecutive hits to jump in front, all with two outs. Dominic Signorelli doubled to spark the offense before Brandon Cabrera, De Sa and Jack Sheward tallied three straight singles to make it 6-4 and force a pitching change. Leo Rivera stepped to the plate next and doubled to left center to tie the contest before a base hit by Carter Booth made it 7-6 in favor of the Warriors.
Back-to-back singles had OIT threatening with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Smith came on in relief and retired the next three batters with the help of the Warrior defense. Smith erased a leadoff single in the seventh with a pickoff before ending the frame with a strikeout.
Singles by Sheward and Nick Seamons pushed the LC State advantage to 8-6 in the top of the eighth and Smith fanned two more in the bottom of the inning to keep the lead intact.
The Warriors added insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Signorelli doubled to set up Cabrera for a two-run homer and send the game to the bottom of the ninth with LC leading 10-6.
Smith worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning and ended the game with his fifth strikeout.
Signorelli and De Sa led the Warriors with three hits each. Signorelli drove in three runs and Rivera knocked in two.
Smith earned his fourth save of the season after striking out five in four innings of relief. Starter Drake George tallied six strikeouts in 4.1 innings before Jantzen Lucas came out of the bullpen. Lucas tossed two-thirds of an inning to earn the win.
UP NEXT
The four-game Cascade Conference series at Oregon Tech continues with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.
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