LEWISTON, ID – No. 21 Lewis-Clark State Baseball opened a big series against Texas A&M-Texarkana with an emphatic run-rule victory on Thursday. Warrior pitching shut out the Eagle lineup for the first time this season while the LC State bats rattled off 10 hits in seven innings in the 11-0 win.
Bryce Johnson stood out at the plate once again with his second 3-for-4 performance of the season, again with five RBI. Evan Canfield, Jordan Lennartson and Dominic Tatone combined to give up just two hits on the mound.
The victory has the LC State record at 3-0 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Canfield held TAMUT off the board through his first two innings on the mound and the Warriors struck for the first run of the contest.
Johnson singled through the left side and took second on a wild pitch. A groundout moved him to third before the senior scored on a passed ball. A pair of strikeouts by Canfield and a runner caught stealing by Bulla Ephan kept the Warriors in front 1-0 in the top of the third.
LC State added on in the home half of the third with four runs. Spencer Zeller walked to start the frame, Brandon Nguyen singled and Ephan was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A base hit by Izzy Madariaga plated a run before Johnson doubled to drive in two more. Jordan Justice capped the rally with an RBI single to push the lead to 5-0.
The Warriors doubled their run total with another five runs in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI double by Nguyen brought in a run to get the offense going. Ephan singled to knock in Nguyen and Johnson made it 8-0 with another double off the wall. Justice walked ahead of a double by Sam Weber, and an error plated the 10th run of the game.
Lennartson took over on the mound in the top of the fifth and got out a jam with a double play; the second turned by the Warriors in the contest. A groundout by Johnson in the home half of the inning pushed the advantage to 11-0.
Tatone closed out the contest in relief with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.
STAT RECAP
Johnson led the contest with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with five RBI. Nguyen tallied two hits and scored three runs.
Canfield tossed four innings to earn his first win of the season. He struck out four and allowed two hits. Lennartson and Tatone combined for three innings of no-hit baseball.
UP NEXT
LC State continues the series with TAMUT on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Harris Field.
