PORTLAND, Ore. – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team pushed its win streak to 15 by taking both games of a doubleheader against Concordia University at the University of Portland’s Joe Etzel Field on Saturday. The Warriors hit their way to a 9-5 win in the first game, and then rode strong pitching to take the second 6-2.
Saturday’s victories might have been a little more special than usual for the Warriors considering the opponent. LCSC is now 16-1 on the season, with its only blemish coming via a 7-6 loss to Concordia on Feb. 12.
LCSC connected for 16 hits during the first contest. Brian Burke and Brian Gaylord both had big days at the plate as Burke went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI and Gaylord went 4-for-5. Burke leads the team with nine homers, while Gaylord leads with a .526 batting average.
The Warriors plated two runs in the first, exploded for five runs thanks to three doubles and Burke’s blast in the fourth, and then added an insurance run in the fifth and seventh. LCSC had five players with multiple hits. Todd Muecklisch, Josh Ashenbrenner, and Pat Murray each drove in two runs.
Six of the Warriors’ runs were scored with two outs including all five during the fourth inning.
The Cavaliers used eight hits to score in the third, fourth, eighth, and ninth. They scored two in the fourth thanks to a leadoff single by Andrew Reid followed by a long ball to left center by Sean Myrom. Reid, Myrom, and Tony Flanagan finished with two hits apiece.
Tyler Lichty earned the win for the Warriors as he went seven innings surrendering five hits and three earned runs while striking out eight. Lichty now has a record of 3-0. Stephen Foster entered the game with the tying run on deck and retired the final batter to earn the save. Starter Steven Taft was tabbed with the loss.
In game two, Cody Fassold (above photo) got past an early hiccup to slice through the Cavalier lineup and earn the win, moving him to 4-0 this season.
Answering a solo blast by Jake Eccles in the top of the first, Concordia’s Tim Reavis nailed a two-run bomb to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the inning, however, the Cavalier’s were held scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Fassold struck out eight in his seven innings of work and surrendered only two runs and four hits. The right-handed junior was backed by Henry Buenrostro who pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the save. Buenrostro struck out two.
Concordia, now 3-11 overall, used four pitchers in the game. Reid pitched the first five and held LCSC to one run, however, the Cavalier Bullpen couldn’t hold the narrow lead. Myrom was given the loss as he gave up two earned runs (and two unearned) in the sixth.
Burke and Gino Casini were the only Warriors with multiple hits in the second game. Eccles didn’t have another hit after his homer in the first, but he did manage to plate two more runs with a sac fly in the sixth and in the seventh.
The Warriors finished with nine hits to Concordia’s eight.
Not originally scheduled, the doubleheader was played on Saturday to make up for the rained out game on Friday. Both teams will meet for the final game of the three-game series on Sunday at 11 a.m.
