CALDWELL, Idaho – Offense was the story at Wolfe Field, as Lewis-Clark State and the College of Idaho combined for 51 runs and 56 hits in today's doubleheader, with the top-ranked Warriors holding off a pair of Coyote rallies in 19-14 and 10-8 victories.
Gunnar Buhner had five hits and Raymond Pedrina drove in five runs for LCSC (5-3), as the Warriors took advantage of 13 walks and 10 hit batters by C of I pitching.
L-C surged to a 13-2 lead after three and a half innings of Game 1, but had to hold off an intense Coyote (5-7) rally. Pedrina had a two-run single in a four-run first inning for the Warriors; Evan Douglas singled home two in the third; with Brock Ephan singling home a pair in the fourth inning.
The Yotes chipped away at the deficit getting a
Dalton Ridgway RBI double and a
Bobby Wright two-run double in the fourth to cut into the deficit, with Wright and
Devon Pogue adding RBI singles and
Johnny Hyland punching a two-run knock in a four-run seventh to cut the gap to 16-11. An inning later,
Cole Mansanarez ripped a solo homer and
Ryan Murkle added a two-run shot to make it 17-14 – but could not get closer.
Ephan was 3-for-6 with three RBI for LCSC, with four others recording two hits. Reliever David Wilson worked around a pair of hits and a walk to earn the win in relief – the only Warrior pitcher not to allow a run.
Wright was 5-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI for the Yotes, with Ridgway going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and
Hunter Hanson scoring four times. C of I used eight pitchers in the loss.
LCSC tallied an unearned run in the first inning of Game 2, but the Coyotes took their only lead of the day in the bottom of the frame, as a run scored on a Warriors error and
Dominic Conigliaro plated a run with an RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
Buhner tied the score with one swing, blasting a solo homer, while an inning later Matt Thompson doubled home two runs and Chase Hafer followed with an RBI double of his own for a 5-2 lead.
The LCSC lead was 6-2 in the fourth when the Yotes cut the margin to a single run on a Hyland RBI single and a Mansanarez two-run triple – but stranded the tying run at third base. The visitors extended the margin to 9-5 in the seventh, only to see Conigliaro double home two and
Austin Van Horne adding a two-out RBI single to get within a run – but L-C reliever Anthony Balderas got a key strikeout to end the threat.
Evan Douglas and Buhner each had three hits for LCSC, with reliever Tanner Simpson logging the win after fanning four in one and two-third innings of shutout work.
Five Coyotes – Hyland, Hanson, Mansanarez, Conigliaro and Van Horne all had two hits in the loss, with Conigliaro driving home three.
The Yotes continue their homestand this weekend, hosting Saint Martin's for a five-game series – starting Thursday at 3 p.m.
