TUESDAY MORNING MOUND VISIT: Warriors’ streak the culmination of season of work

For the whole regular season, the Lewis-Clark State baseball team has been working to string together the results that match the talent level of the team.

Amid injuries, multiple lineup changes and a pitching staff that seemed to always be under some kind of tinkering, the Warriors have finally started to do that.

LCSC has won 12 straight games and swept three consecutive series, one of which was against No. 2 LSU Shreveport. The team is, as per the norm, in the driver’s seat of the Cascade Conference.

The Warriors’ recent series sweep this past weekend against British Columbia gave them a 17-3 record in conference, three games ahead of Oregon Tech (14-6).

The four teams in the postseason Cascade Conference tournament have already been decided: Lewis-Clark State, Oregon Tech, British Columbia and Bushnell — the last of which the Warriors will face this weekend at home in the last series of the regular season.

If LCSC gets swept and Oregon Tech sweeps its series, it would mean the Owls would be the regular season champions and the postseason tournament will be held in Klamath Falls, Ore. A tiebreak situation would go to the Warriors due to them having a better conference record going into this weekend, meaning that anything less than Bushnell and Oregon Tech both sweeping would mean the postseason tournament (May 4-6) would take place at Harris Field.

A series loss this weekend isn’t out of the question for the Warriors. They already have dropped three games to Bushnell this season in a series from March 8-9. But this is a different LCSC team than it was even a month ago.

The pitching staff, which at several points in the year was on pace to be the worst in program history, has developed quality and consistency. The Warriors’ top two starters, Drake George and Shane Spencer, have combined to pitch 30 1/3 out of 36 potential innings in their recent pair of outings.

Cam Smith is one of the more consistent relievers in the Cascade Conference. He’s tied for second in the conference with five saves and has a 4-0 win-loss record. The rest of the bullpen has developed into a solid group capable of closing out close games, similar to last season.

The lineup, which has seen more turnover at later stages than usual, has finally started to figure itself out.

Brandon Cabrera, who before the season looked to have an outside shot at best to make the starting lineup, has been one of the most consistent bats for LCSC. He leads the team in batting average (.367) and stolen bases (16) and is second among the Warriors this season with 10 home runs.

Senior outfielders Carter Booth and Nick Seamons and junior infielder Dominic Signorelli have all excelled this year, as well.

Even players who have struggled at portions of the year or were in slumps are now starting to put things together.

Junior infielder Charlie Updegrave is coming off his best two-week stretch this season. He’s had a hit in six straight games after putting up goose eggs at the plate the two games prior. In four of the last six games, he’s had two hits and has four home runs and 14 RBI during that stretch.

Senior infielder Pu’ukani De Sa was in a similar position. After struggling at the plate and in the field for a large portion of the year in his second baseman role, he’s turned things around since being moved to third. He’s brought his batting average up to .299 and has registered at least one hit in the last five games, including a four-hit performance against LSU Shreveport on April 14.

Even the injury bug, which has hit LCSC hard the last two seasons, is starting to be less of a factor. Catcher Bulla Ephan is back in the lineup and has been playing well. And infielder Ike George returned healthy against British Columbia this past weekend and was used as a pinch runner and a pinch hitter, and scored several times during the series.

Senior Jake Gish returned to the lineup against the Thunderbirds as a designated hitter and went a combined 6-for-14 at the plate with three RBI and a home run during those four games.

The injury list is finally starting to get light and that provides the Warriors with one of the most crucial things in the postseason: depth.

They are three-deep at catcher with Ephan, Jack Sheward and Jakob Marquez. The infield is a “who’s who” of guys capable of stepping up and filling in, which probably can be considered a benefit of all the movement in the lineup earlier in the year.

LCSC also has another thing going for it that it didn’t have the last time it played Bushnell: the series is at Harris Field.

The Warriors are undefeated this season playing in front of their hometown fans (16-0), which makes the series all the more important. Comparatively, LCSC has a 12-8 record away and a 2-1 record in neutral site locations.

If LCSC ties or wins the series this weekend, then the Warriors will play the Cascade Conference tournament, the NAIA Opening Round and, presumably, the Avista NAIA World Series all at Harris Field.

And with LCSC’s penchant for winning home games, and the team playing the best baseball it has all season, that could spell out danger for other teams that will make the trek to Lewiston.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.