It was a back-and-forth battle on a windy day in Caldwell, Idaho, but the Lewis-Clark State College baseball came out on top against the College of Idaho on Wednesday. Powered by three timely hits from Pat Murray (photo) and a late home run by Brian Burke, the Warriors defeated the Coyotes 10-7.
The win improves LCSC to 20-2 overall and snaps the Coyotes’ 13-game win streak at home. The Coyotes are now 19-8 having lost four games to the Warriors this season.
The early portion of Wednesday’s game seemed to be a race around the bases as both teams put up five runs in the first three frames. However, if it was a race, the Warriors proved to have more endurance as they were able to outscore the Coyotes 4-0 in the final three innings.
Murray led the Warriors with four runs batted in, while Burke and Travis Georgius both drove in two apiece.
LCSC struck first with four straight two-out singles to score three runs in the second, but the Coyotes answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning on three hits and one Warrior error.
In the third inning, Murray drove a single through the right side to score two and tie the game at 5-5. Then in the fourth, a one-run double to left center by Jake Eccles put the Warriors back on top.
The lead was short lived, however, as the home team scored the tying run in the fifth via back-to-back doubles by Jarel Lewis and Ray Santiago, and then manufactured the go-ahead run in the sixth.
In the seventh, a hit batsmen and a walk set the table for the Warriors to rebound. The one-out opportunity brought Murray to the plate and the senior struck again, this time with a bases-clearing double down the left field line.
Burke then added on insurance with a two-run bomb to left field in the top of the ninth. Burke now has a team-leading 10 long balls on the season which times him for third overall in the NAIA.
Despite tying a season-high by striking out six times, LCSC outhit the Coyotes 15-11 on the day. Burke, Georgius, and Eccles had two hits apiece, while Murray’s three knocks extended his team-leading hitting streak to nine games.
Izaac Garsez led the Coyotes with three hits, and Santiago, Kyle Dougles, and Tyler Andazola added two hits each.
LCSC used four pitchers in the game with Seth Haehl and Stephen Foster keeping the Coyotes in check in long relief. Haehl surrendered one earned run and struck out two in his four innings of work, while Foster gave up an unearned run and had two strikeouts in three innings to earn the win.
Henry Buenrostro pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his fifth save of the season.
The College of Idaho used three pitchers in the ball game and was able to ground the Warriors into a season-high four double plays. Mitchell Dame was tabbed with the loss as he gave up three runs in three and one-third innings.
LCSC has now beaten the College of Idaho in nine straight games and has won 19 of the last 20 meetings.
The Warriors and Coyotes will wrap-up the two game series with a contest at 1 p.m., pacific, on Thursday. This will be the final meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
