LCSC baseball only gets split of games against Corban

The third-ranked Lewis-Clark State baseball team resumed action Saturday after a two-week layoff with the first two games of a four-game Cascade Conference series at Harris Field.

But there might have been a tiny bit of rust by the time the day was finished for the local Warriors. While LCSC earned a 15-5 run-rule victory in the opener, it suffered its second home loss of the season in the nightcap, dropping a 7-1 decision.

Here are some of the takeaways from the first day of conference action:

You get a homer… and you get a homer

The locals busted out the bats early in the opener. LCSC (16-4, 1-1) hit four home runs in the first inning, one that totaled six runs and six hits as it was off to the races.

It was the third time in two years that LCSC hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in an inning as junior second baseman Pu’ukani De Sa hit a three-run shot, then senior catcher Sam Olsson and sophomore third baseman Dominic Signorelli followed with solo homers. After an out, junior outfielder Carter Booth deposited a shot to the deepest part of the park.

“Honestly, (Corban’s) arms were just leaving some pitches over the plate pretty early on,” said Booth, a transfer from the University of Utah. “We just took advantage and jumped on it in the first inning. I think that just goes with our approach — we’re trying to ambush any pitch that we think is our pitch. And I think that showed out pretty well in that first game.”

Corban (6-16, 1-1) was able to get out of the inning without further incident, but the damage clearly was done.

Booth then hit his second of the game and fourth of the season in the fifth to make it 9-1 LCSC.

That gave enough of a buffer for sophomore left-hander Dallas McGill (2-0), who didn’t allow a hit in five innings of work.

“I just really tried to keep the ball in the zone,” McGill said. “And if (Corban) was going to hit it, I knew my defense was behind me and they were going to back me up. So I just tried my best to locate (the ball) the best that I could.”

Corban hits up bullpen

Throughout the first five innings of Game 2, Corban starting pitcher Bryce Bridge and LCSC starter Jace Hanson were locked in a tight, 1-1 pitcher’s duel.

But the bullpen couldn’t maintain the solid outing by Hanson. Corban scored six times in the final four innings to earn the split.

LCSC did itself no favors, as it left 10 runners on, allowed a two-run home run to Ryan Clay in the ninth inning and allowed two other runs to score from third on bunts. Clay was 3-for-4 with four RBI and Keenan O’Brien went 4-for-5 with a triple.

Senior right-hander Greg Blackman (2-1) allowed six hits and three runs, one earned, in the sixth and seventh innings to take the loss.

Coach Jake Taylor said the layoff had no effect on his team.

“I don’t think (the weeks) had anything to do with it, really,” the fifth-year coach said. “It’s just the game of baseball. We’ve struggled this year putting doubleheaders together, and that’s something we’re going to have to rectify because we got a lot of them coming our way.”

Booth agreed.

“I really wouldn’t say (the two weeks) played a factor,” Booth said. “During that bye week we were all eager to play, we were all a little upset when we found out we were just going to play against each other and we didn’t get (to play). But going into this weekend, I think we were all just really eager to get back out there on the field and just play Warrior baseball. Unfortunately, Game 2, it didn’t look like that.”

Stat line

Booth led all LCSC hitters on the day with four hits in five at-bats, with two home runs. Booth also scored four runs and walked three times and had two RBI.

De Sa batted in four runs and had two hits in Game 1.

Up next

The two teams conclude the series with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. today at Harris Field.

GAME 1

CORBAN LEWIS-CLARK STATE

ab r h bi ab r h bi

O’Brien c 3 0 1 0 Seamons lf 5 2 2 0

Cole pr 0 1 0 0 Canty ph 1 0 0 0

R. Clay 3b 2 1 0 0 Thomas dh 4 2 2 0

K. Clay lf 3 0 0 1 Pagan ph 0 0 0 0

Maris 2b 3 2 1 0 De Sa 2b 5 1 2 4

Grayson rf 2 1 0 0 Justice pr 0 1 0 0

Pellkofer cf 3 0 1 1 Olsson c 2 1 2 2

Artzer dh 4 0 1 2 Weintraub pr 0 0 0 0

Kaahanui 1b 2 0 0 0 Ephan c 1 0 0 0

Torres-Um ph 1 0 1 0 Signorelli 3b 3 3 1 1

Bunn ss 3 0 0 0 Marquez 1b 3 0 0 1

Tentinger 1b 1 0 0 0

Booth cf 2 3 2 2

Mast rf 3 0 0 0

Sheward rf 2 1 1 2

Haws ss 1 0 1 0

Hepburn ss 0 1 0 0

Totals 26 5 5 4 Totals 33 15 13 12

Corban 010 000 13—5 5 4

Lewis-Clark State 611 012 04—15 13 0

Corban ip h r er bb so

Johnson (L, 0-5) 4.2 9 9 8 5 4

Cervantes 1 3 2 2 0 0

Findley 1.1 0 0 0 1 0

Landon 0.1 1 4 2 3 0

Hakes 0.1 0 0 0 0 1

Lewis-Clark State ip h r er bb so

McGill (W, 2-0) 5 0 1 1 2 5

Spagnuolo 1 0 0 0 0 0

Ball 1.2 4 3 3 1 0

Ediger 0.1 1 1 1 1 1

Attendance — 267.

GAME 2

CORBAN LEWIS-CLARK STATE

ab r h bi ab r h bi

O’Brien c 5 0 4 0 Seamons rf-lf 4 0 1 0

Cole pr 0 2 0 0 Thomas dh 2 0 1 0

R. Clay 3b 4 1 3 4 De Sa 2b 4 0 0 0

K. Clay lf 5 0 0 0 Olsson lf 4 0 0 0

Maris 2b 5 1 3 0 Mast rf 0 0 0 0

Grayson rf 3 1 1 0 Signorelli 3b 3 0 1 0

Pellkofer cf 4 1 1 0 Booth cf 3 1 2 0

Artzer dh 4 0 2 0 Sheward c 3 0 1 0

Kaahanui 1b 3 0 0 1 Weintraub pr 0 0 0 0

Bunn ss 2 1 0 0 Rivera 1b 3 0 0 0

Gonzalez ph 1 0 0 0 Marquez ph 1 0 0 0

Haws ss 3 0 0 0

Canty ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 36 7 14 5 Totals 31 1 6 0

Corban 000 012 112—7 14 1

Lewis-Clark State 000 100 000—1 6 2

Corban ip h r er bb so

Bridge (W, 1-0) 7 4 1 0 7 6

Szczepanek 2 2 0 0 0 1

Lewis-Clark State ip h r er bb so

Hanson 5 3 1 1 3 3

Blackman (L, 2-1) 2 6 3 1 0 3

Green 2 5 3 3 0 1

Attendance — 215.

Kowatsch can be reached at 208-848-2277, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.