LCSC claims wins at Guardian, Plumbing, Heating & A/C Tournament

  2-23-07

LEWISTON, Idaho – Junior third baseman Beau Mills had a huge day at the plate to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team defeat both Western Oregon and St. Martin’s Friday on its way to moving closer to capturing the title in the Guardian Plumbing, Heating & A/C Tournament, which is being played at Lewiston’s Harris Field.





(Second-baseman, Ryan Anderson, turning a double play in the 7th-inning
during the Warriors 11-4 win over Western Oregon) 

Mills went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored to life LCSC past Western Oregon 11-4 Friday afternoon, and then hit three doubles to drive in five runs, all in the first four innings, in the Warriors’ 12-0 seven-inning pasting of St. Martin’s. In Friday’s other game, Western Oregon defeated Missouri Western State University 14-9. Missouri Western and St. Martin’s met in a game later Friday night, but the contest does not count in the tournament standings. 

After two days of the tournament, the Warriors have all but wrapped up the title. LCSC is 3-0 in tournament play and 7-0 on the season. Western Oregon stands 1-1, Missouri Western finished 1-2, and St. Martin’s is 0-2. Tournament action continues Saturday with Western Oregon taking on St. Martin’s at 11 a.m., followed by LCSC and St. Martin’s at 2 p.m. The tournament concludes Sunday with Western Oregon meeting LCSC at 11 a.m. 

In their victory over Western Oregon, the Warriors collected 16 hits and scored in every inning but two. However, LCSC still found itself trailing for the first time this season when Kevin Corrigan hit a three run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to put Western Oregon (4-4 overall) ahead 4-3. 

The lead, however, was short lived as miscues finally caught up with the Wolves. Western Oregon committed six errors in the game, allowed 16 hits, four walks and three hit batters. Even with the 11 runs, LCSC still stranded 14 batters in the game. 

Mills connected for his second home run of the season to start the scoring in the game, a solo blast in the second inning, but it was offset by a solo home run from Travis Coursey in the bottom of the inning. After an error allowed a run in the LCSC third and Kyle Greene singled in a run in the fifth, Corrigan hit his three-run blast. 

LCSC, however, answered with two runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Paul Martin and a wild pitch. Martin added a two-run single in the seventh and an error brought in another run in the eighth to make it 8-4. Mills added an RBI single to highlight a three-run ninth inning. 

Martin went 2-for-6 with three RBI, while Greene was 3-for-6 and Mark Thompson went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. 

Matt Fitts pitched the first 4.2 innings for LCSC and allowed all four runs on four hits. He also walked four and struck out four. Brian Parker allowed four hits over the final 4.1 innings to earn the win. He struck out three. 

In the win over St. Martin’s, Mills had an RBI double in the first and two-run doubles in the third and fourth innings before being replaced. Mills, the only Warrior to start all seven games this season, is now 15-of-29 at the plate (.517) with five doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI, which is more than double anyone else on the team. 

The Warriors scored in five of the six innings they batted in and the contest was stopped after the top of the seventh inning because of 10-run rule agreed upon by the coaches.  

Zach Evangelho went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, Isaac Simmons went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Greene went 2-for-2 to lead the Warrior offense. 

Starting pitcher Jon McCaslin made his season debut and allowed three hits in three innings with two walks and three strikeouts to pick up the win. Jacob Burns went the final four innings and allowed two hits and struck out five to earn the save. It was the Warrior pitching staff’s third shutout of the young season. 

The Warriors have outscored the opposition 66-9 this season. 

Adam Siler had the lone extra-base hit of the game for St. Martin’s (2-10 overall) with a double. 

In the opening game of the day, Tony Jones, Brent Mertens, and Paul Fisher, the No. 6-8 hitters in Western Oregon’s lineup, combined for five hits and eight RBI in the win over Missouri Western. The Wolves broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with five runs, two of which on Boo Christenson’s single. 

Western Oregon scored five more times in the bottom of the seventh to take a 14-4 lead, but Missouri Western made things interesting with five runs in the top of the ninth. Brian Munson had two hits and two RBI to pace Missouri Western (1-2 overall).


(Beau Mills, advancing to third on a throwing error after hitting an RBI double
during the 1st inning of LCSC's win over St. Martin's on Friday)