LEWISTON, Idaho – Pat Murray connected for two home runs and eight RBI as the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team ended the Regence BlueShield of Idaho Tournament with a 13-2 clobbering of the College of Idaho on Monday afternoon.
After dropping their first game of the season, the Warriors have since won three straight and have outscored their opponents 38-8 in those three games. Lewis-Clark State went 3-1 in the four-day tournament to establish a 3-1 overall record.
During the tournament Concordia went 3-1, Corban finished 2-2, Patten was 2-2, and the College of Idaho went 0-4.
The Warriors only scored in three different innings against the Coyotes on Monday—but they made those innings count. LCSC scored four in the third, four in the sixth, and five in the seventh off of a season-high 17 hits.
Murray, a senior transfer from Oral Roberts University, drove in over half his team’s runs via a three-run blast to left field in the third, an RBI double in the sixth, and a grand slam off of the first pitch he saw in the seventh inning. Murray was 3-for-5 on the day. His eight RBI fall short of LCSC’s all-time mark of nine RBI in a game set by Ryan Kies in a 32-3 drilling of St. Martin’s on April 24, 1997.
Seniors Tom Peale and Michael Guerrero handle the nine innings of work on the mound for the Warriors. Peale earned his first win in an LCSC uniform by going five innings while striking out three and giving up only four hits and one run. Guerrero pitched the final four innings, struck out one, and surrendered one run to earn his first save of the year.
Kyle Melton, Vaughan Prow, and Trent Bridges each came off the bench and had successful at-bats for the Warriors. Melton went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored, Prow hit a three-run home run in the sixth, and Bridges went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.
The College of Idaho went through seven pitchers and surrendered seven walks. Starter Kyle Johnson was tabbed with the loss as he gave up four runs and five hits in just under three innings of work.
Coyote hitters did have some success at the plate, but they did not have enough of it in the same inning. As a result, COI scattered 10 hits over nine innings and left 10 runners on base.
Luke Howarth and Kyle Dougles, who played for the Warriors last season, both had three hits apiece for the Coyotes.
The Warriors now prepare to host their second straight tourney as the Guardian Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning Tournament will run from Feb. 19-22. In an updated version of the original schedule, Lewis-Clark State is now slated to face Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday, Dickinson State University on Friday and Saturday, and Saint Martin’s University on Sunday during the four-day, four-team, round-robin tournament.
