Warriors blow by College of Idaho 11-0; advance to title game

05-09-08

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Matt Fitts threw eight shutout innings as the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team pounded 19 hits in its 13-0 win over College of Idaho at the Region I Tournament on Friday.  

With the win LCSC advances to the title game where it will face the winner of Friday’s 6 p.m. game between British Columbia and COI. Following the two-loss elimination format of the tournament, the Warriors will have to fall in back to back games in order to lose the Region I Championship.

Matt Fitts, although plunking four COI batters, cruised through eight innings as he struck out seven and surrendered only one hit on the day—his season-low. Fitts, currently leading the Warriors with 87 strikeouts this season, moves to 10-0, and helps improve the Warriors to 49-5.

College of Idaho, falling to 29-26 overall and 1-10 against the Warriors this year, now plays UBC in a loser out game. COI has a 5-4 record against the host team, and was able to topple the Thunderbirds 3-0 on Thursday.  

Six Warriors had multiple hit games including three hits from Brent Wyatt, Sean Halton, and Nic Benton. Bernard Pena’s two hits, including a bases clearing triple, gave him a game-leading three RBI.  

Although the one run LCSC scored in the first would have been sufficient for Fitts, the Warriors had two huge innings in the second and fourth to provide an ample amount of insurance.  

LCSC used three hits to put a run on the board in the first inning, but then exploded for five runs in the second. The second inning was highlighted by six Warrior hits, and back to back RBI doubles from Kyle Greene and Halton. 

In the fourth, LCSC struck again for four runs as three singles loaded the bases, and Pena cleared them with a triple to right-center. And, by way of two hits and a passed ball, the Warriors added on one last run in the fifth. 

Relief pitcher Justin Mace maintained the shutout as he kept the Coyotes scoreless in the ninth. The 11-0 win stands as LCSC’s 11th shutout of the season—with 13 shutouts standing as the program record (1977). Three of the 11 shutouts have come against COI.