The Warriors, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, improved to 27-9 with its second win over the Coyotes in as many days. The Warriors collected season highs with 20 runs and 19 hits in blasting College of Idaho 20-3 in seven innings on Wednesday. In the two games, the Warriors have scored 33 runs and have 37 hits.
LCSC is now 5-1 against the Coyotes this season and has outscored them 64-22.
The Warriors will see more Coyote pitching in the next two days as well as the two teams continue their four-game series with games in Lewiston. The two teams meet Saturday at 6 p.m. at LCSC’s Harris Field, and then again at noon on Sunday.
LCSC’s Kris Miller and Ben Ornelas continued their strong comebacks on Friday. Miller, who has missed most of the season with an injury, went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. In the two games against the Coyotes this week, Miller has seven hits and eight RBI. Ornelas, who was ineligible until midway through the season, has been the team’s hottest hitter. He went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored and now has nine hits in his last four games. He’s also hitting .433 in the 18 games he’s played in since joining the squad.
Friday’s contest was actually tied at 3 going into the top of the sixth inning when LCSC scored four times to take control. The Warriors then pushed across six runs in the ninth. Until the ninth, all of the Warrior runs came with two outs in the inning.
LCSC scored solo runs in the first, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead. Ornelas hit an RBI double in the first, while Sean Halton’s double scored a run in the third. Brian Ward’s sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 3-0.
College of Idaho got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Jake Miller hit the first of two home runs on the day, this one an inside-the-park home run. The Coyotes added two more in the fifth with the help of an error.
The Warriors gained the lead for good in the sixth when Paul Martin and Ward singled to start the rally. With two outs, Martin scored on a passed ball, while Miller singled in a run. After Halton was hit by a pitch, Kawika Emsley-Pai smacked a two-run double to left-center field.
Jake Miller’s second home run of the day, this one a two-run shot, made it 7-5 in the eighth, but LCSC used six hits and an error to score six runs in the ninth to pull away. Josh Ashenbrenner started the scoring with an RBI triple, while Ward singled home Ashenbrenner. Ornelas later doubled in a run, while Miller had a two-run double. Bryson Tajiri completed the scoring with an RBI double.
LCSC used two pitchers in the game. Matt Stabelfeld threw the first 4.2 innings and allowed three hits and three runs, two of which were earned. He also struck out eight and walked two. Zach Clanton pitched the final 4.1 innings and gave up two hits and two runs, but struck out four. He earned the win to improve to 3-1 overall.
Miller’s home runs accounted for two of College of Idaho’s five hits.
Seven Warriors finished with multiple hits. After Miller’s three hits, Martin, Ashenbrenner, Ward, Ornelas, Emsley-Pai and Halton all finished with two. Every Warrior started had a hit or scored a run in the game.
