LEWISTON – The No. 8 Lewis-Clark State Warriors used clutch hitting and a solid day on the mound to sweep a doubleheader with College of Idaho at Harris Field on Saturday.
The Warriors needed just seven innings to earn a 14-1 win in game one, shortened by the 10-run rule. In game two, LC State surrendered the first two runs before taking the win 6-2.
The two wins improved the LC State record to 22-9 overall and 12-3 in Cascade Conference play.
Carter Booth went 5-for-8 on the day and Nick Seamons collected four runs and five RBI. The Warriors hit 12 doubles as a team in the doubleheader.
Shane Spencer went six innings and struck out 11 in a win in the opening game. After allowing a second inning run, Spencer shutdown the Yotes and improved his record to 3-1.
Tucker Grote spread out two hits over three innings of relief work in game two to earn his second win of the season. Landon Webb recorded two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.
“Excellent pitching today helped propel us to the sweep,” coach Jake Taylor said. “Offensively, we were too sporadic at times, but were able to stack at bats in the latter portion of both games to secure the wins.”
The Warriors will attempt to complete the sweep when the series concludes on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Harris Field.
GAME ONE: No. 8 LC State def. College of Idaho 14-1 (7 innings)
The Yotes took advantage of a Dominic Signorelli error in the top of the second inning and struck first. Jack Ingraham reached on that error, Darin Danner walked and Ben Gaff hit a single that scored Ingraham.
Nate Vidlak needed just 21 pitches to retire the first six he faced, but it was the third inning where LC State got the bats going.
Evan Overmars hit a single down the right field line with one out in the third. Bulla Ephan cracked a double into left center that scored Overmars to tie the game. After a Booth and Seamons walk, Signorelli hit a sacrifice fly that scored Noah Weintraub who was running for Ephan. The Warriors led 2-1 after three.
In the fifth, Booth earned a two-out walk to extend the inning. Seamons doubled to score Booth and Signorelli was hit by a pitch. Brandon Cabrera deposited a ball into the left field stands for a three-run home run and LC State opened up the score to 6-1.
It was in the bottom of the sixth inning where the Warriors blew the game open. Pu’ukani De Sa opened the frame with a double down the left field line and Jakob Marquez hit a single to advance De Sa to third. After a Magnum Hofstetter fly out, Ephan walked and Booth hit a double off the center field wall to score two. Seamons followed suit with a double of his own to score two more and make it a 10-1 LC lead.
Signorelli added a single and an error allowed Seamons to score. A Cabrera double scored Signorelli, Alex Sol doubled Cabrera to third and De Sa hit a sacrifice fly to allow Cabrera to score. After a Marquez walk, Hofstetter hit a double down the left field line to score Sol and made it a 14-1 Warrior advantage.
Jace Hanson retired all three batters he faced in the seventh including a strikeout to close out the opening game victory.
The top four in the order (Booth, Seamons, Signorelli, Cabrera) each scored twice. Cabrera led the team with four RBI and Seamons had three.
GAME TWO: No. 8 LC State def. College of Idaho 6-2
Like the opening game of the day, College of Idaho struck first. Jordan Kelly hit a one-out double and scored on an Alex McFarland-Smith single. McFarland-Smith later scored in the inning off a Dillon Danner single and the Yotes led 2-0 before LC was able to come to the plate.
The Warriors got on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a pair of doubles by Marquez and Hofstetter and the deficit was cut to one.
Strong two-out hitting was the key in the fourth inning for LC State. Marquez stood at first when Booth singled, Seamons singled in Marquez to tie the game, Signorelli singled in Booth to give the Warriors the lead and Cabrera was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, Jackson Cummins was called for a balk and Seamons scored to increase the LC lead to 4-2.
Updegrave showed a quick glove on a weak liner down the first base line in the fifth inning. With McFarland-Smith running on the pitch, the first baseman reached down to make the catch and tagged the first base bag with his glove to turn the unassisted double play.
Signorelli had a web gem of his own in the seventh inning. McFarland-Smith hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop’s right. Signorelli went out to the left field grass to make the grab and fired it to first in time to record the out and end the frame.
The Warriors added two insurance runs in the eighth inning. Hofstetter led off with a single and Sol ran for the catcher. Booth singled, Seamons drove in Sol and Updegrave knocked in Seamons to push the lead to four.
College of Idaho threatened in the ninth after Jace Mahike was hit by a pitch and Chandler Stocking singled with one out. Webb closed the door with a 1-6-3 double play to end the game.
Booth went 3-for-5 with a double in the night cap. Seamons collected two hits, two runs and two RBI. Marquez had a pair of doubles.
UP NEXT
The Warriors wrap up the four-game Cascade Conference series on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Harris Field.
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