LEWISTON, Idaho – Home runs put the Warriors behind, but then home runs put them way ahead on a sunny day at Harris Field on Monday. In a contest that featured six long balls, the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team overcame a 5-1 deficit to defeat the College of Idaho 16-8. The Warriors are now on a 10 game winning streak.
The Coyotes smacked home runs in the first, second, and third; but the Warriors answered with homers in the sixth, seventh, and eighth.
Brian Gaylord (pictured above), a junior first baseman, went 3-for-3 on the day for the Warriors with two long balls, 6 RBI, and three runs scored. He hit a three run job in the seventh, and a solo shot in the sixth. He also had an RBI double in the eighth.
LCSC’s other home run came from senior Brian Burke who continued his early season power display with a three-run round tripper in the eighth. Burke now leads the Warriors with six home runs and 22 RBI in 12 games played.
The win lifts the Warriors to 11-1 on the season, while the College of Idaho dips to 10-3. The Coyotes entered Monday’s contest with a nine-game winning streak as their only other losses this season came against LCSC and Corban College during the Regence BlueShield of Idaho tournament at Harris Field at the beginning of the year.
Diego Robles got to the Warrior pitching staff early on as he lifted a three-run home run to right center in the first inning. Isaac Garsez then smacked a solo homer in the same area in the second, and Robles struck again with a solo blast in the third.
Robles drove in five runs overall on a 3-for-5 effort at the plate.
After sending two pitchers to the mound and surrendering five runs in the first three frames, Seth Haehl entered the game in the fourth and was able to hold the Coyotes in check over the next four innings. Haehl gave up only one run on five hits to earn the win. He had two strikeouts.
Coyote starter Bobby Wassmann kept his team close for the majority of the game yet was tabbed with the loss. He pitched six and two-thirds innings and surrendered seven hits and eight runs (only four were earned), and had three strikeouts.
The Warriors pounded four hits in the seventh and six in the eighth to outhit their opponent 16-12. Both teams committed two errors.
Five Warriors had multiple hits on the day including Josh Ashenbrenner who was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Ashenbrenner is now batting .409 on the year.
The game had a 14 minutes stoppage in the fifth inning due to an injury to center fielder Jared Arehart. Arehart collided with the center field wall after pursuing—and catching—a deep fly ball off the bat of Burke. Arehart was transported off the field via an ambulance as a precaution but returned to the Coyote dugout an inning later.
The Warriors and Coyotes will square off again on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
