Sean Heppner – photo by Rich Lam, UBC Athletics
A great night for Sean Heppner of British Columbia. Oregon Tech swept, and Lewis-Clark State and Bushnell split.
British Columbia 11, College of Idaho 5. Sean Heppner of the Thunderbirds struck out 16 of the 23 batters he faced, breaking Jeff Francis’ school record, set in 2002. The Coyotes had only one baserunner during the first six innings, and that was on a dropped third strike. He walked a batter in the seventh inning, had another batter reach on an error, then gave up the only hit, which also broke up the shutout. And, the box score doesn’t show that he nearly got four strikeouts in one inning, and that walk he gave up came after a catchable foul ball.
While Heppner was mowing them down, Aaron Marsh started the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning. Russell Young hit a home run in the third inning, then started a big fourth inning by reaching on an error, and two runs scored. Trent Lenihan then hit a three-run home run, Mitchell Middlemiss hit a two-run home run, Jaden Lamothe hit a solo home run, and the Thunderbirds led 10-0 after four innings. It stayed that way until Austin Moon hit the RBI single to break up the no-hitter and shutout in the seventh inning. Heppner was relieved by Kellen Bourne, who recorded a strikeout, a walk, and another strikeout to get out of the inning with the bases loaded. Bourne got into more trouble in the eighth inning. He gave up a hit, two walks, and a two-RBI double by Alex McFarland-Smith. He hit the next batter, loading the bases, and was relieved by Oliver Duthie. Duthie proceeded to get Moon to hit into a double play, with a run scoring. The next batter, Jordan Kelly, hit an RBI single. Duthie then got a ground out to end the inning. Jackson Boomer hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to complete the scoring.
Duthie pitched two innings, allowed only one hit, struck out two. Lenihan and Marsh finished 2-for-3, Young and Middlemiss 2-for-4. Coyote starter Nick Eliason got the loss, but the Coyotes got a good relief effort from Jacob Lewis; 4 1/3 innings pitched, one run on three hits, six strikeouts. recap
First game: Oregon Tech 17, Corban 2. Mercy-ruled after eight innings. The Hustlin’ Owls got the winning run in the second inning, with a three-RBI double by Tyler Horner. They led 10-2 after five innings, added a run in the seventh with an RBI on a ground out by Brady Culp, then moved into mercy-rule territory with six runs in the top of the eighth inning, with a run walked in, a two-RBI single by Chase Hedani, another run walked in, and a two-RBI single by Horner. Horner went 3-for-5 with two doubles and six RBI. Kyle Norton also had three hits. Patrick Arman started, pitched seven innings, allowed one earned run on six hits, struck out one, walked four. Bryce Bridge got the loss. The Owls had 20 hits.
Bronson Chapple
Second game: Oregon Tech 14, Corban 0. Mercy-ruled after seven innings. Bronson Chapple and Jalen Jagdeo combined for the two-hit shutout. Chapple pitched six innings, allowed one of the two hits, struck out five, walked three. The Hustlin’ Owls scored four runs in the first inning, two runs in the second inning, one run in the third inning, then put it away with six runs in the fourth inning, capped by a two-RBI single by Matthew Ortiz, followed by an RBI single by Kyle Norton. Dane Bradshaw hit a home run in the seventh inning. Norton, Tyler Horner, and Ka’ala Tam all went 2-for-4, and Norton and Horner both hit doubles. recap
First game: Lewis-Clark State 12, Bushnell 5. The Warriors got five runs in the top of the first inning on four home runs, by Nick Seamons, Dominic Signorelli (two runs), Brandon Cabrera, and Pu’ukani De Sa. They got the winning run in the second inning, on a sacrifice fly by Jake Gish, and added another sacrifice fly by Cabrera. The Beacons got two runs in the bottom the second inning on a two-RBI double by Reece Carganilla, and didn’t score again until the eighth inning, with a two-run home run by Isaiah Hart, and a solo home run by Jordan Wilson. Starter Drake George got the win, went six innings, allowed two runs on three hits, struck out five. Max Chapman got the loss. Signorelli finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Cabrera had another home run in the sixth inning.
Second game: Bushnell 11, Lewis-Clark State 2. The Beacons’ 11 runs came on only seven hits. The scoring started in the bottom of the first with two runs scoring when Cade Crist reached on an error. Kyle Casperson then hit a grand slam home run, and the Beacons led 6-0 after one inning, on only one hit. The Warriors got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Pu’ukani De Sa, but the Beacons answered with two runs scored on wild pitches in the bottom of the fifth, and led 8-1. The only other Warrior run came in the top of the eighth, on a home run by Carter Booth. The Beacons completed the scoring with three runs in the eighth, on a run walked in and a two-RBI double by Jameson Hussey.
Ethan Sachs pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Beacons, allowed one run on four hits, struck out seven, walked five. However, the win went to Trevor Hammond, who pitched one inning, allowed two hits, struck out two. He was relieved by Daniel Furman, who pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings. Ethan Paulson pitched a hitless ninth inning, struck out two. Chase Nye finished 2-for-5 with a triple for the Beacons. De Sa and Nick Seamons finished 2-for-4 for the Warriors. Jace Hanson, who started for the Warriors and only recorded one out, but zero earned runs and hits, got the loss. recap
