Mills’ hot bat helps LCSC defeat Western Oregon 5-4

  2-25-07

LEWISTON, Idaho – Junior third baseman Beau Mills (shown left) continued to swing a hot bat as he hit two home runs to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team remain undefeated with a 5-4 win over Western Oregon University in the final game of the Guardian Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Tournament at Harris Field on Sunday. 

Mills, who hit four home runs in the tournament, blasted a towering three-run shot to right field in the first inning and added a solo blast in the fourth to help the Warriors finish the tournament with a 5-0 mark and improve to 9-0 on the season. Western Oregon went 1-3 in the tournament and fell to 4-6. St. Martin’s also went 1-3, while Missouri Western was 1-2. 

Mills, who transferred to LCSC this season from Fresno State, went 13-for-20 at the plate in the tournament with 13 RBI, four home runs, two doubles and 10 runs scored. 

The Warriors needed Mills’ production Sunday in their closest game of the season. Entering the contest, LCSC’s closest game had been by six runs and the Warriors were outscoring the opposition by an average of nearly 10-2 each game. 

LCSC, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA preseason poll, got rolling early Sunday when Mark Thompson and Paul Martin drew walks to set up Mills’ first blast, which went over the batting cages in right field. 

The Warriors made it 4-0 in the second inning when Brent Wyatt slugged a solo home run to right center for his first blast of the season. 

After LCSC starter Jared Joaquin retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, he ran into trouble in the fourth inning. Aaron Sutton hit a one-out single and Kevin Corrigan followed with a walk to set up a three-run home run from Tony Jones to right-center field. 

Mills made it 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth when he golfed a low fastball over the scoreboard in right field for his 19th RBI of the season. Mills is hitting .500 this season (18-of-36) with 15 runs scored and nine extra-base hits. 

In the top of the fifth, Western Oregon countered with a run, the only run scored outside of a home run in the game. Boo Christenson doubled to open the inning and went to third when Pat Kelly reached on a fielding error. Sutton then grounded into a double play, which allowed Christenson to score. 

LCSC reliever Will Morgan made his third appearance of the season and picked up the win, allowing four hits in 4.1 innings. He struck out one. Joaquin went the other 4.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. 

Mike Cusick, the first of four Western Oregon pitchers, took the loss, allowing eight hits and all five runs. Three relievers held LCSC to just one hit over the final four innings. 

Jesse Roehl and Kyle Greene added two hits apiece for the Warriors. 

LCSC is back in action on Thursday as the S.P.O.R.T Physical Therapy Banana Belt Tournament gets under way at both Harris Field and at Washington State University in Pullman. Gonzaga takes on Air Force in the opener at 11 a.m., followed by LCSC and Southern Utah at 2 p.m. Washington State will meet Utah Valley in Pullman at 5:30 p.m. Action in the round-robin tournament continues through Sunday.