Cascade Collegiate Conference recap for April 21

At Vancouver, BC. Lewis-Clark State 7, British Columbia 2. This game had an obvious turning point. The Warriors took a 5-2 lead with four runs in the top of the fifth inning on a run walked in, an RBI on a ground out by Charlie Updegrave, and a two-RBI single by Brandon Cabrera. In the bottom of the fifth, the Warriors brought in Jantzen Lucas to relieve starter Hiroyuki Yamada. He was greeted with three straight singles by Aaron Marsh, Trent Lenihan, and Jonny McGill, and the Thunderbirds had the bases loaded with nobody out. The bases were still loaded at the end of the inning, because Lucas struck out the next three batters. He pitched two more innings, recorded three more strikeouts, and allowed only one more hit. The only time the Thunderbirds threatened to score during the rest of the game was when they got a runner to third in the eighth inning; the Thunderbirds hit the ball hard a couple of times in that inning, but they went directly to Warrior fielders.

The Warriors opened the scoring with an RBI double by Jack Sheward in the top of the second, and that was a result of some bad luck for Thunderbird starter Will Anderson. The previous batter, Pu’ukani De Sa, bounced a ground ball off of Anderson’s foot, and Anderson had trouble finding it. So the Warriors kept the inning alive, allowing Sheward to get the RBI. The Thunderbirds scored both of their runs in the fourth inning, on an RBI single by Kellen Bourne, and Jaden Lamothe scoring on a wild pitch after Jackson Boomer drew a walk. The Warriors got runs later in the game on RBI singles by Nick Seamons and Updegrave.

Lucas got the win. Evan Hoegler, who was on the mound for the fifth and sixth innings, got the loss. Cabrera finished 3-for-5. Mitchell Middlemiss finished 3-for-5 with a run scored for the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds didn’t have an extra-base hit. Box score and play-by-play recap from Lewis-Clark State site recap from British Columbia site

The Warriors swept the four-game series.

Ardan Berg is British Columbia’s only graduating senior.

Standings:

* Lewis-Clark State is #1 in Strength of Schedule

Lewis-Clark State, Oregon Tech, British Columbia, and Bushnell have clinched the four conference tournament spots.