L-C surges past Albertson
Copyright The Trib
Four-run eighth
carries Warriors to 21st consecutive
victory, 11-8
CALDWELL -- With an eighth-inning
flourish highlighted by Justin Fuller's
triple, Lewis-Clark State rallied past
Albertson on Wednesday afternoon in the
opener of a four-game series between the
ardent in-state rivals.
The 11-8 victory at Simplot Stadium bumps
the Warriors' winning streak to 21 games,
the fourth-longest in coach Ed Cheff's 30
years at L-C. They are now six victories
away from tying the school record of 27, set
in 1986. "I think players ought to take a
little pride in something like that," said
Cheff, whose team remained No. 1 in
Wednesday's version of the NAIA national
poll (see Page 2B). "I'm sure they'll think
about it some. I don't talk to them about
it, but I'd like to see them run it out a
little bit."
The Warriors will take on the Coyotes
today 2 p.m. PDT. The teams will then travel
to Harris Field for games Saturday and
Sunday.
LCSC (32-3) slipped into an 8-6 deficit
after Albertson (25-13) racked up five runs
in the sixth. Greg Stalling provided a
three-run double during the burst.
The Warriors' answer came in the eighth.
Fuller gave L-C the lead with a hard-hit
triple off the wall in right-center, which
scored two runs. Allen Balmer and Jessie
Mier followed with run-scoring hits.
Fuller and Balmer, both left-handed
hitters, got their knocks off lefty pitcher
Joey Zubizarreta.
"That was the first time we had two
left-handed hitters really handle a
left-handed pitcher real well," Cheff said.
"That was kind of the key to the game --
getting that back-to-back from those guys."
L-C pitchers Mike Miller and Jason Garcia
had spotty showings. They combined to allow
10 hits and seven earned runs in six
innings.
But in the seventh, right-handed
sophomore Chris Kissock took over. He worked
the final three innings and allowed no hits
while walking one and striking out four.
Cheff said he and pitching coach Gary
Picone might use Kissock as a part-time
closer in the NAIA World Series. But they
also want him to keep starting, so they plan
on pitching him Sunday to see how he'll
recover.
"We don't want to stick kids into things
that they haven't done before," Cheff said.
If the Warriors keep their winning streak
alive, they could tie the school record on
April 28 against Utah Valley State at Orem.
And they could break it the following day,
also against the Wolverines. |
