LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team cruised to two wins over Corban College in a doubleheader at Harris Field on Saturday. The Warriors won the first contest 13-7, and followed with a 9-3 victory.
With two wins on Saturday, after a 4-3 win on Friday, the Warriors completed their three-game sweep of Corban. LCSC now holds a 9-3 record and boasts a four-game win streak, while Corban has now lost nine straight and sits at 2-9.
The University of British Columbia is next in line to tango with the three-time defending NAIA national champion Warriors. LCSC and UBC will play a three-game series over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Harris Field.
LCSC’s standouts in Saturday’s doubleheader were Sean Halton, who knocked a homerun in each game; Matt Allen, who went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs in the first game; and Josh Ashenbrenner, who went 4-for-5 with a homerun and three RBI in the second game.
The first game ended up being a battle of the bats as the two teams combined for 23 hits. LCSC was actually outhit 13-10, but had its run production boosted by eight walks.
Corban jumped out of the gate early by scoring a run in both the first and second inning, but the Warriors responded in the bottom of the third with a two-run double by Vaughan Prow to tie the game 2-2. In the fifth the Warriors exploded for four runs to establish a 7-2 lead. The Warriors scored their runs in the fifth inning via two singles to start the inning coupled with a wild pitch, a couple walks, and an RBI single by Matt Allen.
Halton hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make the score 8-2. The 6-foot-5 senior now has five homers on the season— with all of them being solo shots.
In the top of the seventh, Corban got itself back into the game when five hits and a Warrior error led to a four-run inning.
However, in the seventh and eighth the Warriors combined for four hits and five runs to put the game in the books.
LCSC used five pitchers in the game that combined for 10 strikeouts. Dustin Willis, who pitched the fifth and sixth innings without giving up a run, earned his second win of the season.
In the second game, LCSC had a lesser need for production on offense because of the strong performances its two pitchers gave. Senior Michael Guerrero, who finished with an 8-1 record last year, pitched the first six innings to earn his first win of the season. The left-hander recorded six strikeouts in the game.
Nick Masters came out of the bullpen and had three strikeouts in three scoreless innings to earn the save.
In the first inning, a Corban error and two hits by the Warriors including an RBI double by Chris Lum gave LCSC a 3-1 lead, in the fifth Halton’s blast to center field made the score 5-3, and in the seventh Ashenbrenner nailed a three-run homerun to reach the final score of 9-3.
LCSC finished with 12 hits in the game, and did not commit an error. Corban had eight hits, and five errors.
