Warriors hammer Montana State-Billings 18-5 to open tourney

2-22-08

Ikaika Lester had three hits and three RBI, including an RBI double in an 11-run fifth inning to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team open play in the Guardian Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Tournament with an 18-5 victory over Montana State University-Billings at LCSC’s Harris Field on Friday. 

The Warriors collected 14 hits in the game and took advantage of four MSU-Billings errors to score five unearned runs in the contest, which was stopped in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

The 18 runs is the most in a game by LCSC this season as the Warriors improved to 7-2 overall, while MSU-Billings, which was playing outdoors for the first time this season on Friday, fell to 1-1. The Yellowjackets opened the season in the first game of the tournament by defeating the University of British Columbia 3-2. In the late game on Friday, Western Oregon played St. Martin’s. 

LCSC had little trouble with MSU-Billings, scoring three runs apiece in the first two innings for a 6-0 lead before increasing it to 17-1 in the fifth. 

Warrior starter Matt Fitts went to 3-0 on the season by allowing three hits and one run in five innings of work. He also walked one and struck out four.  Reliever Matt Stabelfeld retired MSU-Billings in order in the sixth, but then was touched for four hits, two walks and four runs in the seventh. 

Freshman pitcher Brian Howe took the loss for MSU-Billings. He allowed seven hits, six runs, and five walks in four innings. The next two MSU-Billings pitchers allowed 11 runs in only two-thirds of an inning. 

LCSC got the ball rolling in the first when Lester reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in the first run. Sean Halton’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0, while Brian Ward added an RBI single. 

In the second, Brent Wyatt and Lester had RBI singles, while a fielder’s choice allowed the other run to score. 

The Warriors sent 15 batters to the plate in the fifth inning and took advantage of six hits, three errors, three walks and two hit batters.  Kyle Greene started the scoring with an RBI double, while Paul Martin drove in two with a double. Lester added an RBI double, while Josh Ashenbrenner had an RBI single. Ward picked up his second RBI on a bases-loaded walk, while Greene added his second RBI of the inning when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. 

LCSC’s final run came in the sixth when Chris Valencia’s fielder’s choice grounder scored Thomas Lees, who opened the inning with a double. 

Martin, Ward, and Greene had two RBI apiece for LCSC, while Wyatt, Martin and Ward had two hits apiece. The Warriors collected five doubles in the game, but did commit four errors. 

LCSC will be back in action for a pair of games on Saturday in the tournament. Action begins at 10 a.m. with Saint Martin’s and LCSC, followed by LCSC and Western Oregon at 12:30 p.m. MSU-Billings and Western Oregon meet at 3 p.m., while the final game has St. Martin’s and British Columbia at 5:30 p.m. 

The round-robin tournament wraps up Sunday with three games.