LEWISTON, Idaho – Josh Ashenbrenner and Travis Georgius collected two hits and four RBI apiece to back the solid pitching of Ryan Woods to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team defeat Corban College 14-3 in the Regence BlueShield of Idaho Tournament at LCSC’s Harris Field on Sunday.
Ashenbrenner finished the game 2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, while Georgius went 2-for-4 and tied his LCSC career high with the four RBI. In the two games he’s played in this season, Ashenbrenner is 5-for-9 with four RBI and four runs scored.
Woods showed why he is considered one of the aces of the Warrior staff. The senior from Mill Creek, Wash., allowed just two hits and one unearned run through five innings. He also struck out six and walked two.
The Warriors used three pitchers in the game with Dustin Willis and Andrew LeDuc each pitching two innings. Willis allowed two hits and struck out four, while LeDuc gave up four hits and two runs in the seventh inning when the game was out of reach.
LCSC struck for five runs in the second inning and led by at least five runs the rest of the way.
In the second, a double by Kawika Emsley-Pai, a single by Todd Muecklisch, and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. Georgius drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice, and with two outs, Ashenbrenner singled in two. Paul Martin added an RBI double, while Pat Murray drove in the final run with an RBI single.
The Warriors made it 6-0 in the third with the help of an error, but two Warrior errors in the top of the fourth helped Corban score its first run.
LCSC broke the game open with a six-run five innings, using five hits and two errors to do the damage. Georgia drove in the first two runs with a single, while Kyle Melton added a two-run single. Ashenbrenner later doubled in two, while Martin drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly.
The Warriors scored their final two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 14-1. After a walk and a single, Georgius smacked a two-run double to left-center field.
Corban picked up two runs in the seventh on Nate Hiebert’s two RBI single.
Muecklisch led LCSC with three hits, and in the first three games of the season, he is 6-for-9 with four RBI and five runs scored. Rene Escobar and Emsley-Pai joined Ashenbrenner and Georgius with two hits.
Josh Warner and Craig Spicer had two hits for Corban, which suffered its first loss in the tournament as both teams are now 2-1, both in tournament play and overall.
The five-team four-day round-robin event wraps up on Monday with two games. At 11 a.m., Corban goes for a share of the tournament title when it meets Patten at 11 a.m. LCSC follows against the College of Idaho at 2 p.m.
In Sunday’s other games, Concordia finished the tournament with a 3-1 mark by defeating both the College of Idaho 5-1 and Patten 16-3. Concordia finishes the tournament at 3-1 and could be joined at the top by both Corban and LCSC if they both win on Monday. Patten stands at 1-2 in the tournament, while the College of Idaho is 0-3.
