LCSC wraps up Region I title with 15-4 triumph

05-10-08

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Bernard Pena continued to make the most of his opportunity to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team continue its mastery over NAIA Region I teams.

Pena, thrown into starting catcher duties this week when two members of the team weren't allowed to cross the Canadian border, drove in three runs to help LCSC claim the Region I Tournament title with a 15-4 win over the College of Idaho on Saturday afternoon.

The win lifts the Warriors to 50-5 overall and into the Super Regional competition where they will play host to Region II champion Azusa Pacific in a best-of-three series that will open at 6 p.m on Wednesday at LCSC's Harris Field. The two teams will meet again Thursday at 6 p.m., and the third game, if necessary, will be held on Saturday. LCSC will not play on Friday because of the college's graduation that evening.

Azusa Pacific, which is already guaranteed a berth in the 52nd annual Avista NAIA World Series with LCSC, will travel to Lewiston on Tuesday and then will stay in town at the conclusion of the Super Regional for the Series. That means APU will spend at least 11 days in the area.

LCSC, which went 25-1 against the three other Region I playoff teams, had little trouble in posting a 3-0 record in the double-elimination tournament. LCSC outscored its three opponents 37-7 and outhit them 57-17.

After beating College of Idaho 11-0 on Friday to move into the title game, the Warriors again had little trouble with the Coyotes on Saturday. The Warriors scored five runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth for a 9-2 lead.

Every Warrior starter but one had a hit or a scored a run in the game. Pena and Mike Rivera finished with three RBI apiece, while Rivera had four hits. Brent Wyatt finished with three hits, while Nic Benton and Kyle Greene scored three runs apiece.

Not to be outdone was the four-inning relief performance from Justin Mace. The senior didn't allow a hit over the final four innings and gave up one walk. He also struck out one.

Starter Blaine Hardy picked up the win. He gave up seven hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings of work with a walk. He also struck out four.

College of Idaho, which went 1-11 against LCSC this season, and finished 30-26 actually grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before the Warriors scored five times off Coyote starter Jason Barry. With one out in the inning, Paul Martin singled, Kyle Greene was hit by a pitch, and Sean Halton walked to load the bases. Pena drove in the first two runs with a single, and Rivera later added a two-run double. The fifth run scored on a wild pitch.

LCSC added four in the fourth when an error allowed the first run to score, while Martin added an RBI single. After a walk to Greene, College of Idaho inserted a reliever for Barry, but a sacrifice fly by Josh Ashenbrenner and an RBI single from Rivera made it 9-1. In his three innings of work, Barry allowed seven hits, nine earned runs, and three walks.

Kyle Greene's RBI single in the fifth made it 10-1, and the Warriors added four more in the seventh. Greene started the scoring with an RBI double, while Pena also doubled in a run. Pinch-hitter Ryan Anderson added a two-run single.

LCSC added its final run in the eight on Halton's sacrifice fly.

The Warriors still have two regular-season games left this year and the first is scheduled to take place on Monday in Spokane against Gonzaga at 6 p.m. LCSC also will play the University of Washington in Seattle on May 20 before the start of the Avista NAIA World Series on May 23.