LCSC baseball team defeats Gonzaga 8-7

 3-2-08

Travis Georgius showed he is well on his way from recovering from a shoulder injury by driving in three runs, while Nic Benton also drove in three runs, including two in the decisive fifth inning, to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team outlast Gonzaga 8-7 at LCSC's Harris Field on Sunday.

 

The win was the sixth straight for LCSC, which improves to 12-2 overall, including a 2-0 mark this week against NCAA Division I schools. On Wednesday, the Warriors defeated the University of Washington 8-6 in Seattle.

 

In Sunday's game, the Warriors scored four runs in the fifth inning for an 8-5 lead and then rode their bullpen to the win. Justin Mace, who earned the save in Wednesday's game, topped that outing by allowing just one hit and one walk in the final three innings. He also struck out two.

 

Gonzaga did have baserunners reach second and third in the eighth inning, and a runner on first in the ninth, but Mace got out of each jam to earn his third save on the season.

 

Ryan Woods, the third LCSC pitcher, picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. Starter Matt Stabelfeld went two innings and allowed two hits, two walks, and two runs, before he gave way to Blaine Hardy, who was roughed up for six hits, three runs, and a walk in 1.2 innings. Woods allowed four hits, two runs, and two walks, in 2.1 innings, but also struck out two. He was pitching when LCSC took the lead for good in the fifth inning.

 

Gonzaga, which was counting the contest as an exhibition game only, remains 3-5 on the season. The Bulldogs finished a four-game series with Brigham Young University on Saturday, winning three of four.

 

Both teams collected 13 hits in the game, but only six of the 26 hits went for extra bases, and all were doubles, including five by the Warriors. The key stat was LCSC was able to get the clutch hits when needed and stranded only six baserunners, while Gonzaga left 14 on base.

 

LCSC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Josh Ashenbrenner and Zach Adam singled and moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Georgius then ripped a two-run double to right-center field and later scored on a ground out by Benton.

 

Gonzaga used four hits to score three runs in the top of the third to tie the game, and then picked up two in the fourth on Ryan Wiegand's two-run single for a 5-3 lead.

 

The Warriors made it 5-4 in the fourth when Chris Valencia singled and later scored on a wild pitch.

 

LCSC then used five hits to score four runs in the fifth, all with two outs. Ashenbrenner started the two-out rally with a double and Adam followed with a walk. Georgius' RBI single to left tied the game, and Valencia followed with an RBI double to center to put LCSC ahead. Benton then singled to left-center to drive in the final two runs.

 

Gonzaga added two runs in the sixth on Anthony Synegal's two run single, but the Zags left two runners stranded in the inning.

 

Brent Wyatt had four hits for LCSC, while Ashenbrenner, Georgius, and Valencia added two each.  Ashenbrenner, Adam, Georgius, and Valencia each scored two runs apiece to account for LCSC's total.

 

For the third straight game, the Warrior defense did not make an error. LCSC has now gone 29 consecutive innings without an error, dating back to the seventh inning of a game on Feb. 24 against Western Oregon.

 

The Warriors resume play this week when they play host to Dixie State College, an NCAA Division II school from St. George, Utah, in a three-game series. The two teams play at 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and at noon on Sunday.