McMINNVILLE, Ore. – A fourth-inning grand slam by Braxton Miller busted the game wide open and gave the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team enough cushion to cruise against Corban College on Saturday. The Warriors won by a final score of 10-0 and are now 9-1 on the season.
Thanks to four hits and three runs, including a two-run double by catcher Aaron DeGuire, the Warriors already held a 3-0 lead by the second inning, and so Miller’s home run was not so much a turning point in the game as it was four more nails in the coffin.
LC’s early lead seemed insurmountable mainly because of how well the Warriors were pitching. Starter Tyler Barrett kept Corban to just two hits in his four innings of work to earn the win. He did walk five, but made up for this by fanning six.
Cody Garner, who has had 15 at-bats this season and has played a few games at first base, made his debut on the mound for the Warriors and didn’t disappoint. The left-handed junior went three innings, struck out four, and surrendered only one hit.
Paul Anaya and Zach Clanton pitched the eighth and ninth, respectively, and didn’t come close to spoiling the shutout. Clanton struck out two of the three batters he faced.
LCSC, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA’s preseason poll, tied a season high with 12 K’s in the game.
Miller (above photo), a junior from Tracy, Calif., finished with four hits to boost his batting average to .469. It was his second grand slam of the season (his first one came against Corban as well) and his team-leading sixth home run.
Trent Bridges and Cody Weiss were the only other Warriors with multiple hits as Bridges went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Weiss was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Lewis-Clark State, which outhit its opponent 14-4, is now 42-1 all-time against Corban and has won the last 40 meetings.
If there is no rain, the two teams plan on playing a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 3 p.m.
The games are being played on the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville because of Linfield’s turf infield which is holding up better against the recent cold and wet weather than other fields in the area.
