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In years when Lewis-Clark State home runs multiply like email spam, the bulk of them come when nothing's at stake. But such hasn't been the case this season, and especially not this week.
These Warriors, who coach Ed Cheff maintains should not be mistaken for a power-hitting team, went deep three times in two games Friday, the second day of the Guardian college baseball tournament at Harris Field. And like the two they clubbed Thursday, these were consequential, albeit solo, blows.
Billy Steverman's initial home run as a Warrior and Derek Landavazo's first pitching appearance at L-C were the key components in a 5-1 afternoon victory over Northwest Nazarene.
In the ensuing game, bombs by Danny Ruberte and Derek Bruce provided the essence of L-C's 3-2 triumph against British Columbia.
The Warriors (9-1 overall, 3-0 in Guardian play) and Thunderbirds (6-6, 2-1) emerged from the round-robin portion of this four-team event as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, meaning they'll play for the tournament championship today at 2 p.m.
Northwest Nazarene (2-5, 1-2) and Oregon Tech (1-8, 0-3) will play this morning at 11.
In Friday's first game, British Columbia edged Oregon Tech 6-5.
L-C 5, NW Nazarene 1
Landavazo, a junior transfer shelved by arm problems through the season's first two weeks, was stellar in his Warrior debut. The right-hander allowed but a single in a cautious five-inning start, striking out four.
"He could be a big part of our staff," Cheff said of Landavazo, who went 12-0 with a 1.48 earned run average last season at Chabot (Calif.) College, for which he was named Coast South Conference pitcher of the year. "He's got good stuff, and he knows how to pitch."
Landavazo's relief, Mike Causey, allowed four hits over his three-inning stint, but kept the shutout intact.
The Crusaders got their run in the ninth off Scott Fairbanks, by way of a Dan Richardson double and subsequent infield groundouts.
The Warriors' runs came one at a time, including Steverman's homer to center to lead off the fourth.
Josh Celigoy drove in two runs -- with a first-inning single, then by getting plunked by a Jason Fox pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh.
Jose Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly in the third.
LEWIS-CLARK ST. NW NAZARENE
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Fuller 2b 5 1 2 0 Burkhrt lf 4 0 1 0
Rodriguez ss 4 0 0 1 Andra 2b 4 0 1 0
Ruberte rf 4 1 2 0 Wingrtr 3b 4 0 1 0
Celigoy 1b 4 0 1 2 MCrthy 1b 2 1 0 0
Morris dh 3 0 0 0 Rchdsn ss 3 0 1 0
Steverman lf 4 1 1 1 Pfeifer c 4 0 1 0
Anderson lf 0 0 0 0 Patee cf 4 0 1 1
Best c 4 0 0 0 Schultz dh 3 0 0 0
Balmer 3b 4 1 2 0 Tabali rf 3 0 0 0
Litchfield cf 3 0 0 0
Benton cf 1 1 1 0
Totals 36 5 9 4 Totals 31 1 6 1
Lewis-Clark State 101 100 101--5 9 0
NW Nazarene 000 000 001--1 6 3
Lewis-Clark State ip h r er bb so
Landavaso (W, 1-0) 5 1 0 0 0 4
Causey 3 4 0 0 0 1
Fairbanks 1 1 1 1 0 0
NW Nazarene ip h r er bb so
Fox (L, 0-2) 7 8 4 4 1 3
Stuvland 2 1 1 0 0 1
L-C 3, British Columbia 2
The Warriors made the most of their six hits: all but one went for extra bases, and four of them were run-related.
Obviously, that includes Ruberte's home run to right field to open the fourth and Bruce's tie-breaking drive to left-center to lead off the eighth. Ruberte and Bruce share the team lead with three homers apiece.
Brandon Morris and Tyson Dietz also got into the act, indirectly following Ruberte's shot with back-to-back doubles off Thunderbird starter John Campbell, who lasted seven innings.
L-C starter Kyle Allen likewise lasted seven, and coincidentally both he and Campbell threw 99 pitches.
Nate Kuhns, who relieved Allen to start the eighth, finished British Columbia off in no-hit fashion, walking three and striking out two.
Mark Capone's RBI double in the third inning and Adam Campbell's solo homer in the top of the fourth staked the Thunderbirds to a 2-0 lead. But L-C negated other UBC threats though solid fielding, which featured three double plays.
BRITISH COLUMBIA LEWIS-CLARK ST.
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Capone 2b 3 0 1 1 Bruce ss 4 1 2 1
Yiu 1b 4 0 0 0 Fuller 2b 4 0 0 0
Murray 3b 3 0 1 0 Slagle cf 2 0 0 0
Kornberger c 3 0 1 0 Ruberte rf 3 1 1 1
ACampbell cf 4 1 1 1 Rodrigz ph 1 0 0 0
Janes rf 4 0 0 0 Celigoy 1b 3 0 0 0
Tobin lf 2 0 0 0 Padilla 1b 1 0 0 0
Hughes ss 1 1 1 0 Morris 3b 3 1 1 0
Thomson dh 2 0 0 0 Dietz lf 3 0 2 1
Ames dh 1 0 0 0 Benton dh 3 0 0 0
Concpcn c 2 0 0 0
Stvrmn ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 27 2 5 2 Totals 30 3 6 3
British Columbia 001 100 000--2 5 1
Lewis-Clark State 000 200 01x--3 6 0
British Columbia ip h r er bb so
Campbell (L, 0-1) 7.1 6 3 3 2 2
McNiven 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
Lewis-Clark State ip h r er bb so
Allen 7 5 2 2 1 7
Kuhns (W, 1-0) 2 0 0 0 3 2
Brit. Columbia 6, Ore. Tech 5
Capone had four of the Thunderbirds' 12 hits, including a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and UBC withstood the Owls' late-game flurry -- they scored all of their runs in the eighth and ninth.
Ryan Garrett fueled the Oregon Tech rally with a three-run homer in the ninth.
Oregon Tech 000 000 014--5 8 2
British Columbia 004 000 02x--6 12 1
Heim, Draper (8) and Garrett. Grant, Mutis (8), Gautier (9), Osachoff (9) and Kornberger.
W -- Grant (1-1).L -- Heim (1-2). S -- Osachoff (2).
Oregon Tech hits -- Wills, Jensen, Garrett 2 (HR), Gelhart 3 (2-2B), Johnson.
British Columbia hits -- Capone 4 (HR, 2B), Yiu, Tobin, Murray 2 (2B), Kornberger (2B), Hughes, Janes 2.
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