Warriors open British Columbia series with 11-3 win

3-21-08

LEWISTON, Idaho – Seven solid innings by starting pitcher Matt Fitts along with timely hitting helped the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team to an 11-3 win over the University of British Columbia at Harris Field on Friday night.  

By winning the first of a four-game set, the Warriors, who also defeated the Thunderbirds 3-1 on Feb. 24, improve their season record to 22-2, while British Columbia falls to 13-9. UBC, before Friday’s game, had won nine of its last 10 games. 

The victory extends L-C’s winning streak to 16 games, which was the longest winning streak the Warriors saw in 2007—a year in which the Warriors ended with a 58-5 record and their 15th national championship. Ironically, it was British Columbia that ended the Warriors’ win streak last year.  

Fitts, who was unable to notch a win in his last two starts, threw three scoreless innings to start the game, struck out four, and gave up only one earned in seven innings of work to earn the win. Justin Mace threw the final two innings, giving up a run, two hits, and striking out two.  

Josh Ashenbrenner got the Warriors started with an RBI single in the first, and the Warriors continued to tack on runs as the game went on. LCSC, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, scored in six of the eight innings it came to the plate. 

Ashenbrenner, Paul Martin, and Sean Halton all had two hits in the game. One of Martin’s hits was a two-RBI triple in the seventh that gave L-C an 8-3 lead. Nic Benton also had two RBI as he plated Brian Bollwit and Martin with a single in the sixth.   

Josh Brink took the loss for the Thunderbirds. Brink gave up six hits and six runs on five walks in five and two-thirds innings pitched.  

The series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., and then a noon game on Sunday will close it out. A free pack of Warrior baseball cards will be handed out to the first 250 people who attend Saturday’s doubleheader. On Sunday, the Lewis-Clark State College athletic department and baseball team will hold an Easter Egg hunt for children age 12-and-under at 10 a.m. at LCSC’s Harris Field.