LEWISTON, ID – No. 7 LC State Baseball combined for 30 hits to sweep Corban (Ore.) in a Cascade Conference doubleheader on Saturday. The LC Warriors opened the four-game set with the Corban Warriors with victories of 18-3 (7 innings) and 8-1.
Jackson Jaha led LC State with seven hits between the two games and 11 of the team’s 30 hits went for extra bases. LC Warrior pitching gave up just four runs throughout the day with four walks.
The victories have the LC State record at 20-3 overall and 12-3 in CCC action.
GAME ONE: No. 7 LC State def. Corban 18-3 (7 innings)
Corban struck first with a run in the top of the second, but LC State answered to take the lead in the bottom of the third.
Brandon Nguyen led off the frame with a single before back-to-back doubles by Jaha and Izzy Madariaga and a triple by Bryce Johnson plated three runs for a 3-1 advantage.
The LC Warriors blew the game open with nine runs in the home half of the fourth inning. Bulla Ephan and Payton Smith notched a pair of singles to open the frame before a triple by Nguyen cleared the bases. Jaha doubled to make it 6-1 and free passes to Madariaga and Johnson loaded the bases. Cayden Wotipka delivered in his pinch-hit appearance with a grand slam, the first home run of his career, to make it a 10-1 advantage before an out had been recorded in the inning.
Sam Weber kept the inning going with a single and capped the scoring in the frame with a two-run home run to left. LC State led 12-1 through four innings.
Corban tallied a run in the top of the fifth on two hits and a sacrifice fly, but LC State erased it with three in the bottom of the inning. A base hit by Anthony Karagiannopoulos with the bases loaded brought in one before a fielder’s choice plated another. Nguyen legged out an infield single to knock in a run and make it 15-2.
Base hits by Madariaga and Bo Stinson put two on for LC State in the sixth before Ryan Prescott crushed a three-run blast to right field. The LC Warriors led 18-2 through six innings.
Corban added a run in the top of the seventh, but LC State closed out the contest in seven innings via the run rule.
STAT RECAP
Nguyen and Jaha each had three hits in the game and Wotipka drove in four runs with one swing. Nguyen and Prescott each knocked in three runs.
Evan Canfield earned his fourth win of the season after five innings of work. He struck out four batters and gave up one earned run. Joey Estrada threw the final two innings and gave up a run on two hits.
GAME TWO: No. 7 LC State def. Corban 8-1
Landon Webb worked a 1-2-3 top of the first and LC State was off to a hot start at the plate. Nguyen lined a double off the wall in left-center and scored on a base hit by Jaha.
Corban evened the score in the top of the second with three hits, but a double play got LC State out of the inning.
The hosting Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the third with hits from Jaha, Madariaga and Johnson. Kooper Jones forced an error to bring in a pair for a 4-1 lead through three.
Nguyen was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth and took second on a hit by Jaha. A single through the left side plated Nguyen and Jones knocked in two with a base hit to center for a 7-1 advantage.
Levi Anderson took over on the mound in the seventh and worked a quick frame before a solo shot by Jaha in the bottom of the inning gave LC State an 8-1 lead.
Anderson tossed the final two innings to close out the game and earn his first save of the season.
