LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State, ranked 4th in the preseason NAIA baseball poll, rolled to a non-conference doubleheader sweep of visiting Whitworth on Saturday afternoon at Harris Field. The Warriors won the opener 16-2 in seven innings and took the nightcap 11-1 in eight frames.
Whitworth (1-4) and LCSC (9-1) will conclude the series with a single game on Sunday at 11:00 am.
Game 1 – LCSC 16, Whitworth 2 (7 inn.)
The Warriors hit three home runs and blew up for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open the game.
Whitworth scored first when Brenden Duncan was able to come home on a throwing error at third base.
Nick Seamons hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to give LCSC a lead it would not give up. Dominic Signorelli added a solo homer in the third and Luke White drilled a solo shot in the fourth to increase the lead to 4-1.
Matt James had an RBI double to finish off the Warriors' three-run rally in the fifth, extending the lead to 7-1.
Duncan hit his first home run of the season in the top of the sixth to get the Pirates within 7-2.
LCSC poured it on in the bottom of the sixth, scoring nine runs on six hits and a Whitworth error, all after the first two batters were retired. The Pirates also walked four batters and hit another. White and Riley Way each had two-run singles in the rally.
Way went 4-5 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs. White was 2-4 with three RBIs. Eric Chavarria (2-1) threw 6.1 innings to pick up the win for LCSC on the mound.
Duncan and Aidan Morrison each had a pair of hits for the Pirates. Jack Leary (1-1) allowed seven runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings of work. Three Pirate relievers followed.
Game 2 – LCSC 11, Whitworth 1
Zach Threlfall had five RBIs and the Warriors combined for six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to break open the game and complete the sweep.
Threlfall had a two run single for LCSC in the second inning. He added a three-run home run in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.
Whitworth scored its only run in the top of the fifth when Jeremiah Kennell walked, stole second and scored on Duncan's RBI single.
Aidan Nagle hit a two-run home run for LCSC in the bottom of the seventh. The Warriors added four more runs in the eighth. Seamons and Way had RBI base-hits for the Warriors in that rally.
Threlfall finished 3-5 with five RBIs. Sam Linscott went 2-4. Dawson Day got the win on the mound with five innings of work, allowing one run on one hit.
Hunter Dryden started on the mound for the Pirates and allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits and four walks in five innings. Dylan McCardle thew the final three frames for the Bucs.
