LEWISTON – Matt Fitts and Blaine Hardy combined on a nine-hit shutout to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team kick off the 2008 season with a 10-0 win over the College of Idaho at LCSC’s Harris Field on Saturday. 

The Warriors, however, suffered a rare loss to Whitworth 6-5 to finish the first day of a round-robin tournament at 1-1. 

Fitts, a preseason NAIA All American, looked good in his debut. He pitched five innings and allowed six hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. Hardy, a left-hander, went the final four innings to pick up the save. He allowed three hits and a walk with two strikeouts. 

The Warriors scored four runs in the first inning of the contest, thanks to a costly College of Idaho mistake. The Coyotes, who were playing outside for the first time this season, had two outs in the bottom of the first and appeared to be out of the inning when LCSC’s Kyle Greene hit a lazy fly ball to center field that eventually was dropped and allowed a run to score. The Warriors followed with consecutive run-scoring doubles by Ikaika Lester and Paul Martin, and Sean Halton singled in the final run. 

Lester, Martin and Halton, the No. 5-7 hitters in the lineup, were a combined 9-for-12 in the game with six RBI. Lester went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, Martin went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run kscored, while Halton was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. 

The Warriors collected 17 hits in the contest. Kepa Wong was the only other Warrior with multiple hits with two. 

Against Whitworth, the Warriors trailed the entire game as the Pirates picked up a run in the first and three more in the second off Warrior starter Kevin Camacho. Justin Mace then started the third inning for LCSC and retired the first nine batters he faced. The Warriors also climbed back into the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brent Wyatt had an RBI single, while Martin drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. 

Whitworth added solo runs in the sixth and seventh, and LCSC answered with solo runs in the seventh and eighth.  Martin stole home in the seventh while Mike Rivera had an RBI double in the eighth. LCSC, however, left a runner on second in the eighth and then was retired in order in the ninth. 

In the third game of the day, College of Idaho’s offense couldn’t be stopped as they more than convincingly topped Whitworth 27-4.  The Coyotes knocked 21 hits in the game, and had a nine-run sixth-inning. Whitworth committed six errors in the game.  

The tournament concludes on Sunday with College of Idaho and Whitworth meeting at 10 a.m., followed by LCSC and Whitworth at 12:30 p.m. The final game has College of Idaho and LCSC at 3 p.m.