LEWISTON, ID – No. 21 Lewis-Clark State Baseball secured the series win over Texas A&M-Texarkana on Friday with a twin bill sweep of the Eagles. The Warriors took game one 8-2 after late-inning home runs ignited the offense, and the bats stayed hot for a 12-0 victory in seven innings.
LC State pitching tossed its second shutout of the weekend in game two and the offense totaled 20 runs on 22 hits in the two games.
The sweep moves the LC State record to 5-0 on the season.
GAME ONE: No. 21 LC State def. TAMUT 8-2
Landon Webb struck out back-to-back batters in the top of the second and the Warriors took the lead in the home half of the inning. Jackson Reed walked and took second on a groundout before a base hit by Anthony Karagiannopoulos plated the first run of the game.
Webb worked a 1-2-3 top of the fourth before LC State added on with a run in the bottom of the frame. Bryce Johnson walked and took second on an error. A base hit by Kooper Jones moved him to third before a walk loaded the bases. Cade Westerlund was hit by a pitch to make it a 2-0 lead.
TAMUT scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth off the Warrior bullpen to even the contest, but a sacrifice fly off the bat of Spencer Zeller plated courtesy runner Bo Stinson to put LC State back in front 3-2 through six frames.
Jace Taylor settled in with a quick top of the seventh and the offense went back to work. Izzy Madariaga and Johnson drilled back-to-back solo shots to grow the advantage to 5-2 after seven innings.
LC State put together a three-run eighth inning that started with a walk to Karagiannopoulos. The senior scored on a triple by Kason O’Neil, who then scored on a sacrifice fly by Cayden Wotipka. Brandon Nguyen and Madariaga singled to keep the inning going and Nguyen scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-2.
Taylor closed out the contest with two punchouts in the top of the ninth.
STAT RECAP
Madariaga, Johnson, Jones and Karagiannopoulos each tallied two hits and seven different Warriors drove in a run.
Webb tossed five innings of one-hit baseball and struck out four. Taylor earned the win with the final 3.2 innings of work. He did not allow a hit and struck out four.
GAME TWO: No. 21 LC State def. TAMUT 12-0 (7 inn.)
The second game of the day got out of hand for TAMUT in a hurry. After Jackson Cloud struck out a pair in the top of the first, the Warriors tallied four runs in the home half of the inning.
An error put a runner on and Madariaga doubled. Johnson drove in both with a base hit to center. Two free passes were followed by a double to Payton Smith to clear the bases once more for a 4-0 lead.
LC State added three more in the second frame after a hit by Ty Rusko and walks to Nguyen and Ephan loaded the bases. Madariaga walked and Johnson was hit to bring in two, and a groundout by Stinson made it 7-0.
Pitching woes continued for the Eagles in the fourth inning. Back-to-back hits by Johnson and Reed brought in a run after a hit batter started the frame.
Cloud worked a quick top of the fifth before four more LC State runs. Ryan Prescott drew a walk before three straight hits by Rusko, Nguyen and Ephan plated three. Reed singled up the middle to make it a 12-0 game through five innings.
Stephen Hammergren came out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth and closed out the day in the seventh.
STAT RECAP
Ephan, Johnson, Reed and Rusko each notched two hits and Johnson drove in three runs. Zeller scored three times as the courtesy runner.
Cloud earned his second win of the season after five strikeouts in five innings. He combined with Hammergren for the second shutout of the series.
