VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team set a modern day record it would just as soon forget as three Warrior pitchers gave up 11 runs in the first inning in an 11-2 setback to the University of British Columbia on Monday.
The Warriors have not given up 11 runs since at least 1985 and possibly earlier. LCSC record books don’t list the most runs allowed an opponent in an inning. The Warriors did give up 10 runs in an inning in 1990 against Western Oregon and 1995 against Linfield.
Although LCSC suffered through a nightmare in the first inning, the rest of the game was smooth sailing. LCSC didn’t allow UBC a hit after the second inning and only had three batters reach base after the second, one of which was eliminated on a double play grounder.
The Warriors, 33-11, just couldn’t get out of the first inning. And starting pitcher Tyler Knigge couldn’t get an out, period. The sophomore right-hander faced six batters and gave up three hits and three walks. He was pulled in favor of Stephen Foster, who managed to get one out, but gave up two hits and two walks. Brian Erickson then came on to get the final two outs, but not before giving up the final run.
For Knigge, giving up six runs without recording an out caused his earned run average to go from 5.02 to 6.45. Foster’s four runs in only one-third of an inning caused his ERA to go from 3.32 to 4.91.
Nic Lendvoy, the No. 5 hitter in the UBC lineup, had a big first inning. In his first at-bat, he had an RBI single, and then smacked a three-run double to complete the scoring. Scott Webster had a two-run double in the inning, while Sammie Starr added a two-run single.
After allowing two hits in the second inning, Erickson found his grove. He pitched 6.2 innings and allowed four hits, two walks and a run. He also struck out three. Henry Buenrostro retired the side in the eighth inning for LCSC.
The Warriors scored their two runs in the top of the third. Josh Ashenbrenner was hit by a pitch with one out to start the rally and scored on a double by Kris Miller. Ben Ornelas followed with a double to score Miller.
LCSC, however, like UBC, didn’t mount much of an offensive threat after that. LCSC had five of its eight hits in the first three innings.
UBC pitcher Taylor King allowed seven hits and two walks in his seven innings of work, while Jeff Hall finished up by allowing only one hit in the final two innings.
Miller was the only LCSC player with more than one hit as he finished with two. The Warriors stranded 10 runners in the contest.
LCSC resumes action on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. when it takes on the University of Washington in Seattle.
