VANCOUVER, B.C. – Four Lewis-Clark State College pitchers checked the University of British Columbia baseball team on four hits over 18 innings to help the Warriors post a pair of shutouts in a doubleheader sweep over the Thunderbirds on Sunday in NAIA West play.
Anthony Armanino held UBC to two hits over seven innings in the opener and combined with Garrett Tygerson on a three-hitter to carry the Warriors to a 7-0 win.
In the second game, Luke Goodgion allowed a two-out single in the third inning for UBC’s only hit of the game as he also pitched seven strong innings and was followed by Zach Clanton in the final two during a 3-0 triumph.
The sweep lifts LCSC to 15-4 in league play and 25-8 overall, while UBC slips to 11-9 and 18-13.
LCSC’s pitching set the tone during the four-game series sweep that featured three shutouts. LCSC allowed just two runs – one earned – during the 36 innings and shut out UBC over the final 20 innings. The Warrior staff also allowed only 18 hits during the four games.
The one earned run in the 36 innings (0.25 earned run average) helped the Warriors to a new season-low in team ERA at 3.01.
Along with pitching, the Warrior bats held a common theme of ninth-inning rallies. Of the 24 runs LCSC scored during the series, 15 came in the ninth inning, including seven on Sunday. The second game was actually scoreless until the ninth when the Warriors scored their three runs, which enabled them to win all six games against UBC this season.
Armanino, a junior left-hander from San Carlos, Calif., continued his strong season with his outing in the opener. He struck out seven and walked two to improve to 5-1 on the season with a 2.77 ERA.
Tygerson allowed one hit and two walks over his two innings.
LCSC scored solo runs in the second, fifth and eighth innings for a 3-0 lead in the opener. In the second, Kevin Hawk doubled in Connor Moore, who drew a one-out walk. In the fifth, Jordan Payne led off with a single and later scored on a single by Eric Peterson. In the eighth, Alfonso Casillas, who had a big series, doubled to open the frame. Kyle Knigge later had an RBI sacrifice fly to center.
The Warriors then pushed across four runs in the ninth off of relievers Connor Smith and Nathan Kirby. Moore and Hawk started the rally with singles and both scored on a two-out pinch-hit double by Braxton Miller. Kirby then came in an intentionally walked Casillas, but the move backfired when Billy Silvestri hit a two-run triple to make it 7-0.
LCSC’s Trent Bridges had a single in the game but saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end in the second contest.
Casillas, Peterson and Hawk had two hits apiece for LCSC, while Miller and Silvestri finished with two RBI each. Casillas went 8-of-16 with seven RBI during the four games.
The second contest belonged to Goodgion and his UBC counterpart Alex Graham, who allowed only three hits in eight innings. The two teams combined for just five hits in the game.
Goodgion, a junior left-hander from Kent, Wash., picked up his first decision of the season with easily his best outing. He lowered his ERA to 2.75. He did give up five walks, but struck out five. Clanton allowed one walk and struck out two in his two innings.
The one-hitter by the pair was LCSC’s first since 1994 when J.R. Yackley and Jason Rooker combined to one-hit Whitman at Walla Walla in a 3-0 LC win.
Graham battled Goodgion over eight innings as he allowed only a single in the second and two singles in the fifth. He walked one and struck out one.
Neither team had a baserunner reach third until the ninth. In fact, LCSC only had one baserunner reach second before the ninth, while UBC had only two.
UBC sent reliever Conor Lillis-White to the mound in the ninth, but he struggled with his control. Payne started LCSC’s rally with a one-out double, and back-to-back walks to Bridges and Peterson loaded the bases. Casillas was then hit by a pitch to bring in the game’s first run, while Knigge drove in the second with a sacrifice fly to left field. A wild pitch allowed the third Warrior run to score.
UBC managed to put a baserunner on in the ninth thanks to a walk, but was unable to break through.
Payne’s double was the only extra-base hit of the game.
The Warriors return home for a busy week with five games. LCSC plays host to Whitworth at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and then takes on Concordia in a four-game NAIA West series. The two teams meet at 6 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday, and then in a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
