Mills homers again as Warriors thump UBC 13-0

 5-3-07 

Beau Mills hit his NAIA-leading 28th home run, a grand slam in the third, and two pitchers combined on the Warriors’ eighth shutout this season as Lewis-Clark State College rolled over the University of British Columbia 13-0 on Thursday afternoon at LCSC’s Harris Field. 

Mills’ blast to right field broke open the contest as the Warriors finish the season series with UBC at 2-2. 

LCSC is now 46-4 overall and the top-ranked team in the NAIA. UBC, 19-17 overall, owns two of the wins over LCSC, including a 1-0 win on Tuesday to start the three-game series. However, LCSC claimed a 17-6 win on Wednesday and then had an easy time in Thursday’s game, partly because UBC is saving its top pitchers for a big three-game series with Albertson this weekend at home. 

With LCSC’s game not counting in the Region I standings, Albertson has a two-game lead over UBC with the three games left. If Albertson wins one of the three games, the four-team double-elimination Region I tournament will be held in Caldwell. If UBC sweeps Albertson, it will play host to the region tournament. 

UBC threw six pitchers on Thursday and only the final one, Brett Murray, went as long as two innings and enjoyed much success. The other five gave up at least one run in their brief appearances.

Meanwhile, LCSC pitcher Matt Fitts and Joe Guntz combined on a four-hit shutout. In six innings, Fitts struck out 12, the most by an LCSC pitcher this season. He also allowed two hits, but did hit three batters. Guntz pitched the final three innings and gave up two hits and two walks, but also struck out two. 

Paul Martin’s RBI single in the first inning put the Warriors ahead, and two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Mills, who moved with two home runs of tying Jim O’Dell’s single-season record of 30 home runs in Warrior uniform. Mills also has 96 RBI on the season. 

The Warriors piled it on with three runs in the fourth, four in the fifth, and one in the sixth for a 13-0 lead. 

In the fourth, Jessie Mier and Jesse Roehl singled and scored on a two-run triple by Travis Georgius. Mark Thompson followed with an RBI single to score Georgius. 

In the fifth, a double by Mier and two walks loaded the bases. Thompson drew a walk to force in the first run, while Isaac Simmons singled in a run. A sacrifice fly by Martin scored the third run, while Kyle Greene was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 12-0. 

The Warriors’ final run came on a bases-loaded single by Martin. 

Thompson finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and three runs scored, while Mills was 2-for-4 with four RBI. Martin went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. 

LCSC has three regular-season games left, including two with Linfield this weekend, which will mark the end of Linfield coach Scott Carnahan’s career. The two teams meet at 2 p.m. on Saturday and at noon on Sunday. LCSC then finishes the regular season on Tuesday in Pullman against Washington State.