Warriors take down T-Birds; L-C defeats British Columbia 12-4 in final regular-season game against NAIA opponent
Copyright of The Trib

By JIM BROWITT
of the Tribune

British Columbia distinguished itself by becoming only the third NAIA team to beat Lewis-Clark State this spring. But that's month-old news.

And its appears to have been an aberration, judging by the results of the other four times the Warriors and Thunderbirds played, including Tuesday's night's 12-4 L-C triumph at Harris Field.

This was the Warriors' third eight-run victory over British Columbia, and their other win featured a nine-run spread.

Yet the Thunderbirds, ranked 23rd in last week's NAIA Top 25, aren't that far behind the No. 1 Warriors, L-C coach Ed Cheff maintains. He, in fact, wouldn't be surprised to see them return to Lewiston three weeks from now when the NAIA World Series convenes.

"That's a good team," Cheff said of UBC, which last weekend clinched the Region I title and will play host to the four-team regional tournament May 12-14. "They're better than they showed the past two games."

Like they did in Monday's 9-1 victory over UBC, the Warriors used timely hitting and efficient if not overpowering pitching in pushing their winning streak to 11 games. L-C (39-6) had 11 hits, one less than the T-birds (29-18-1), but exploited eight walks and four errors.

D.J. Kooken's second home run of the year was the evening's biggest blow; the designated hitter belted a grand slam into the left-field bleachers in L-C's five-run third inning.

The Warriors scored four times on five hits in the sixth, including Joey Dyche's two-run double.

Dyche had a hit for the 15th consecutive game. Actually he had three, bumping his batting average to .509.

The Warriors used six pitchers, and they combined for 10 strikeouts while walking none. Senior right-hander Sal Aguilar, who worked the first two innings, was awarded the victory, taking him to 7-0.

"I liked the way we pitched against them," Cheff said of his staff's performance versus UBC, which carries a .330 average. "We gave up hits, but nothing that really hurt us."