WARRIORS PITCH SHUTOUT TO SWEEP TIGERS

Warriors Hit Two Homeruns in the Fourth

April 11, 2004

LEWISTON, Idaho – Junior Mike Causey pitched six innings of shutout ball as the Warriors beat Occidental College 6-0 to earn a sweep over the Tigers on Sunday at Harris Field.

The Warriors hit a pair of two-run homeruns and improved to 33-7 on the season.  The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-28 on the season.

Warrior starter Mike Causey (Simi Valley, Calif.) pitched 6.0 scoreless innings, striking out nine batters to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the season.  The 6-6 right-hander threw 73 pitches, allowing only two hits and one walk. He retired six straight hitters at one point.

Center fielder Nicolas Benton (Marysville, Wash.) led off the Warrior half of the first inning with a single to leftfield.  Benton then stole is fourth base of the season to move down to second.  After leftfielder Toshi Sasa (Osaka, Japan) struck out, shortstop Jose Rodriguez (Colton, Calif.) hit a double down the right field line that just fell in for a hit and Benton moved to third.  Then with two outs, Allen Balmer (Lewiston, Idaho) hit another double down the right field line to score Benton and Rodriguez.

Balmer went 1-for-3 with the two runs batted in.

After being held scoreless in the second and third innings, the Warriors erupted for four runs on four hits in the fourth inning.  Second baseman Justin Fuller (Juneau, Alaska) led off the inning with a single to right.  Fuller, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored, extended his team-best hitting steak to 16 games.  The next batter Tyler Hunt (Bellevue, Wash.) hit a first pitch homerun over the leftfield wall.  Benton then singled to short and advanced to second on a throwing error before Daniel Ruberte (San Jose, Calif.) hit a pinch hit homerun to right.  Tiger starter Chris Wilson (Washington D.C.) was then pulled for reliever Tyler Colville (Portland, Calif.).

Wilson went only 3.0 innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits to fall to 1-6 on the season.  Wilson did face four batters in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Tiger reliever Colville pitched well in relief, throwing three scoreless innings and striking out two.  At one point, the freshman had retired seven Warriors in a row.

The Warriors will return home on April 16-17 for a three-game series with Western Baptist.  The first game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Harris Field.  Saturday the two teams will play a doubleheader starting a 1:00 p.m.