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LCSC moves into driver's seat at Series
Senior first baseman Ikaika Lester drove in five runs and two Lewis-Clark State College pitchers combined on an seven-hitter to lift the Warriors over Bellevue University 8-1 during the 51st annual Avista NAIA World Series at LCSC’s Harris Field on Tuesday night.
Lester, who missed part of the season with an injury, has been productive since his return. In seven postseason games, Lester now has 20 RBI. He drove in six in a Super Regional contest against Azusa Pacific.
Lester batted seventh in Tuesday’s ballgame and came through when needed. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and drove in the team’s first five runs of the game.
That was more than enough for Brad Schwarzenbach and Brian Parker, who combined to strike out five without giving up a walk. Schwarzenbach (7-0) went six innings and gave up four hits and the one run. He struck out four, but also hit four batters. Parker went the final three innings and allowed three hits with one strikeout.
The victory put the Warriors (56-5) in the driver’s seat. LCSC, the No. 3 seed in the tournament but the defending champion and the top-ranked team all season in the NAIA poll, is the only undefeated team left in the 10-team double-elimination tournament. LCSC can finish no worse than third.
Bellevue (47-14) is seeking its second Series title, but couldn’t collect the key hits when needed and also had some defensive troubles, including a lost fly ball in the lights that led to three Warrior runs. The Bruins, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, also committed four errors.
LCSC struck first for a run in the bottom of the second when Jessie Mier singled and was replaced by courtesy runner Donnie Ecker. After Kyle Greene was hit by a pitch, both Ecker and Greene moved up a base on a wild pitch. Lester then singed home Ecker.
Bellevue picked up its only run in the third when Carlos Jackson showed off his speed. Jackson was hit by a pitch, stole second and then scored when Zach Weidenaar grounded out to short. Jackson never stopped running on the play and caught the LCSC defense by surprise, barely beating the throw home from first base.
Lester put the Warriors out in front for good with a solo home run to left field in the fifth.
In the sixth, the Warriors scored four times to break the game open. The key play came with two outs and the bases loaded and Lester hit a high fly ball that both the left fielder and center fielder lost in the lights. When the ball came down, it was a good 10 feet from either fielder and dropped in for a three-run double. Jessie Roehl, who made a spectacular over the shoulder catch in the top of the inning to rob Bellevue, then drove in Lester with a single.
The Warriors added two runs in the seventh when Brent Wyatt singled and Beau Mills reached on an error, which moved Wyatt to third. A double steal allowed Wyatt to score and another fielding error allowed Mills to come in.
Bellevue appeared ready to do some damage in the top of the sixth when it was still a 2-1 game. The Bruins took advantage of some mental lapses by LCSC’s defense to load the bases with no outs, but Schwarzenbach got a pop up and a strike out. Nick Rivera then hit a hard line drive to right that Roehl turned and sprinted to the wall and extended his arms to make the catch before running into the wall.
Roehl and Mier finished with two hits apiece for LCSC, which collected 11 hits in the game. No Bellevue player had more than one hit and all seven Bruin hits were singles.
Bellevue starter Shawn Lee, who allowed two runs and four hits in 4.2 innings, took the loss in his first decision of the season. Bellevue used six pitchers in the game, but the final five all pitched an inning or less.
Both teams resume action on Wednesday. Bellevue will take on second seed Spring Arbor (47-4) at 3 p.m., Pacific time, followed by LCSC and Houston Baptist (43-21) at 7 p.m. The pairings were decided by the fact that the only team LCSC hadn’t played thus far is Houston Baptist. The NAIA redraws the brackets so teams that already have played once won’t play again unless necessary.
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