ANTHEM, Ariz. – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team went 1-1 on the final day of the Arizona Desert Classic. The No. 11-ranked Warriors began the day with a 8-4 win over the College of Idaho and then fell to No. 17-ranked Fresno Pacific 7-4.
The Warriors, now 2-2 on the season, had a good blend of pitching, offense, and defense in the win over the Coyotes.
“In the first game I thought we played pretty solid,” said LCSC head coach Gary Picone. “We had a good relief performance from Noteware and offensively I thought we had some pretty good balance.”
Noteware, a junior from Tujunda, Calif., entered the game in the third inning with two outs and was able to get a ground ball and leave a runner stranded at third. The righty ended up pitching the next six innings to earn his first win of the year. He struck out four, while surrendering six hits, two runs, and no walks.
LCSC’s No. 4 and No. 5 hitters, Alfonso Casillas and Braxton Miller, supplied much of the offensive firepower in the game. Casillas got things started with a two-run single in the first, and Miller added an RBI single in the seventh and a solo home run in the ninth.
Overall, LCSC outhit the College of Idaho 9-6, with Miller and Connor Moore leading the way with two hits and two runs apiece. Moore also had an RBI and two stolen bases as LCSC swiped four bases on the day.
In the game against Fresno, the Warriors hit well, pitched well, and play good defense—with the exception of one inning.
“We got in a tough spot in the fifth, and I thought (Anthony) Armanino came in and pitched pretty well,” Picone said. “He had a strikeout and a ground ball. Unfortunately we misplayed the ground ball.”
With the score 2-1 in LCSC’s favor, Armanino entered the game with one out and runners on second and third. He struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches, and then was able to induce a ground ball and a potential double play. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the ball was misplayed by the shortstop and this allowed one run to score and left two men on base.
Steven Lozier, a sophomore from Fresno, Calif., stepped to the plate next and smacked a homer to right field two score three unearned runs and make the score 5-2.
Fresno Pacific added two more runs off of a home run by Michael Vaughn in the sixth and never looked back.
Chris Herrera took the win for FPU. He went eight innings, gave up 10 hits, four runs, and one walk, and struck out one. Lozier earned the save with two strikeouts in the ninth.
With two hits apiece from Kyle Knigge and Casillas, the Warriors actually outhit the Sunbirds 10-7.
Trent Bridges led LC with two runs batted in. The senior hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, and also drove a run in on a fielder’s choice groundball in the fifth.
Austin Pentecost started the game and took the loss for the Warriors as he pitched 4.1 innings and surrendered three runs, however, only one of the three was earned. He struck three and gave up three hits and one walk.
LCSC had multiple strong efforts in relief. Sal Arena pitched 2.1 innings without surrendering a run, and Garrett Tygerson came in to pitch a scoreless ninth.
In the only other tournament game of the day, Point Loma Nazarene trounced Wayland Baptist 15-8.
Golden State Athletic Conference members Fresno Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene end up with 3-1 tournament records to lead the event. LCSC and the College of Idaho, members of the NAIA West Division, finished at 2-2, while Wayland Baptist went 0-4.
“Overall, I think we got some answers to our questions,” said Picone. “With this tournament we wanted to play against some quality teams and see where we are at, and we had a chance to do that. There are some things we see as our strengths, and we also have some pretty clear answers of what we need to clean up.”
Next week the Warriors will play in their home opener when they host the Guardian Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning Tournament on Feb. 10-12. The event will bring George Fox, British Columbia, and Concordia (Ore.) to town and will feature three games on Friday, three on Saturday, and two on Sunday.
