LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team busted up a 2-2 tie with four runs in the fifth to defeat St. Martin’s 6-4 on Monday evening at Harris Field in the Roger Adams Memorial Game. Nick Masters pitched the Warriors out of a jam in the fourth, and struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings of relief work to hold back the Saints and secure the win.
Coupled with Sunday’s 10-2 win, the Warriors now lead the series 2-0 and are now 5-1 against the Saints this season. The final game of the LCSC-SMU series is scheduled for noon on Tuesday. Tuesday will be the Warriors’ final game before hosting the Avista-NAIA World Series on May 22-29.
LCSC struck first by putting one run on the board in the second. Sean Halton led the inning off with a triple off the wall in center field and the following batter, Kawika Emsley-Pai, lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.
In the top of the third, St. Martin’s used a hit batsman and two hits, including a double by Shane Shoeneberg, to take a 2-1 lead.
The Saint’s lead was short-lived, however, as the Warriors manufactured another run in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Paul Martin pushed a bunt between the mound and first base to get aboard. Josh Ashenbrenner then followed with a single to right field to wheel Martin around to third, and Kris Miller plated Martin with a sac fly to straight-away center.
LCSC then pitched itself into a dangerous situation in the fourth. Masters entered the game with one out after three walks had loaded the bases. With an 0-2 pitch he forced a fly ball to right field—not quite deep enough for the runner on third to tag—for the second out, and the third out came via a groundout to the first baseman.
Masters cruised through the next few frames keeping the Saints hitless for three straight innings and allowing only one hit in the eighth.
The Warrior lineup did its damage in the fifth. Travis Georgius kicked the rally off with a leadoff single to right center. One batter later, Martin lined a single down the right field line to put runners on the corners. The go-ahead run was then scored when Martin’s stole second and the throw coming from the catcher was bobbled by the shortstop which allowed Georgius to trot from third to home. Miller then plated Martin with a single through the left side, which was eventually followed by a one-run single by Ben Ornelas to right field, and a one-run double by Sean Halton.
Martin finished the ball game 3-for-4 with two runs, while Ashenbrenner, Ornelas, and Halton had two hits apiece. Miller led the team with two runs batted in.
In the ninth, the Saints attempted to mount a comeback, but Masters persevered to improved his season record to 4-3. Masters retired the first two batters of the inning, but then was met by a bomb to left field off the bat of Schoeneberg. Following the home run, the Saints connected for four straight singles to bring the game to within two. Then with the bases loaded, a fatigued Masters ended the game with a strikeout. The right-hander had 103 pitches in the game.
Schoeneberg was the only Saint with multiple hits in the game.
The Warriors are now 38-13, while St. Martin’s goes to 22-29.
