This Week In Warrior Athletics

April 16, 2007

EVENTS: 

Baseball – vs. Albertson College, Friday, April 20, 6 p.m., Saturday, April 21, 2 p.m., and Sunday, April 22, noon, Lewiston’s Harris Field.

Men’s and women’s golf – Frontier Conference Tournament, Lewiston Golf and Country Club, Monday-Tuesday, April 16-17.

Men’s tennis – at Idaho, 3 p.m., April 20, Moscow.

Women’s tennis – at Eastern Washington, Sunday, April 22, Cheney; vs. Idaho, Sunday, April 22, Cheney.

Track – at Washington State University Invitational, Saturday, April 21. 
 

Baseball: 

After sweeping a four-game series from Concordia University of Portland for the second time this season, the Warriors return home to face state rival Albertson College in a three-game series, starting Friday at Harris Field.

Although LCSC is comfortably in first place in the Region I standings at 14-1, both Albertson and British Columbia are battling for second place and the right to hold the regional tournament. Because LCSC is guaranteed a berth in the Avista NAIA World Series, it will not play host to the region tournament. That honor will go to the second place team.

UBC is currently 12-4 in Region I standings, while Albertson is 14-7. Both have three games against LCSC remaining in Lewiston. Albertson, ranked No. 23, is 24-10 overall.

Albertson enters the series on a roll, having allowed only one run in the last 43 innings. The team posted four straight shutout victories and then allowed only one run in the fifth game.

The Yotes’ staff will face a tough challenge against a potent Warrior lineup. As a team, LCSC is hitting .342 this season and has scored 379 runs in 37 games, an average of better than 10 a game.

LCSC and Albertson have met five times this season with the Warriors claiming all five by outscoring the Yotes 39-3.

LCSC junior third baseman Beau Mills brings a 17-game hitting streak into the contest. During his last 12 games, Mills has hit 11 home runs and is leading LCSC in several categories, including hitting (.473), home runs (21) and RBI (74).

On the national level, Mills leads the NAIA per game in hits (1.94), home runs (.500), RBI (1.97), and total bases (3.91). He is second in slugging percentage (.930) and in runs scored per game (1.71). He’s also 10th in doubles per game (.471) and 11th in batting average.

Leadoff hitter Mark Thompson is hitting .397, while senior catcher Jessie Mier is at .388. Four other Warrior regulars are hitting between .355 and .381.

On the mound, the Warriors have a team earned run average of 2.42. The staff has walked 94, compared to 327 strikeouts.

Junior Chris Kissock is 9-0 with a 1.83 ERA. In 64 innings this year, he has allowed 47 hits and 16 walks, and has struck out 42.

Relief pitcher Will Morgan is 2-1 with a 0.64 ERA. In his 42 innings, he has struck out 48 and walked nine. He’s allowed just 21 hits and three earned runs.

After the Albertson series, the Warriors will play seven of their final 12 games on the road. 

Golf: 

Both the Warrior men’s and women’s golf teams look to continue to make a run to the top of the Frontier Conference standings when LCSC’s portion of the conference tournament wraps up Tuesday with the final 18 holes at the Lewiston Golf and Country Club.

Each golf team in the conference plays host to a 54-hole event and the team scores from each tourney are combined for an overall score.

Three tournaments were played at Montana schools in the fall and two are scheduled for the spring. The final spring tournament is April 23-24 in Salt Lake City.

The opening 36 holes of the LCSC tournament were held Monday. The Warrior men and Rocky Mountain women took the first-round lead..

The Warrior women are ranked No. 12 in the country, while Rocky Mountain is No. 14. The LCSC men’s team was ranked No. 28 in the last poll and will need to be ranked No. 25 or better at the season’s end to qualify for the national tournament. 

Tennis: 

Both the Warrior men’s and women’s tennis teams are anxious to get back into action this week when they face tough NCAA Division I competition.

Both teams had matches cancelled last week because of weather, but the University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University await this week.

The Warrior men, 9-9 overall and ranked No. 21 in the country, will play the Vandals on Friday at 3 p.m. in Moscow for LCSC’s only match of the week. The Warriors will be looking to avenge a 4-3 loss earlier this season to Idaho.

Borja Molas, a senior from Barcelona, Spain, has cracked the top 10 in the ITA Fila Rankings released earlier in April. This marks the first time since 2000 that a player from the men's team received that distinction. The previous Warrior, Vinicius Vieira, holds the all-time highest singles ranking at No. 4.

On the women’s side, the Warriors defeated Whitworth College last week to moved to 8-7 overall. This Sunday, LCSC will play both Idaho and Eastern Washington in Cheney. Both Idaho and EWU own 7-0 wins over the Warriors, who are ranked No. 18 in the NAIA. 

Track: 

A few members of the Warrior cross country team will compete in the Washington State University Invitational in Pullman this Saturday, trying to qualify for the NAIA national meet.

The Warriors have a few qualifiers already for nationals, which will be held Memorial Day weekend in Fresno, Calif.

Women’s track officially becomes a recognized sport at LCSC during the 2007-08 academic year.