LEWISTON, Idaho—Designated hitter Cole Shidaki drove in three runs while starter Larsen Kohler went the distance as Concordia defeated No. 12-ranked Lewis-Clark State 7-2 in the opening game of a four-game NAIA West Region series on Thursday.

 

With the win, Concordia improved to 19-16 on the season and 11-10 in NAIA West Region play. LC State fell to 26-9 overall and 15-5 in league play. The two teams will square off for another nine-inning tilt on Friday before finishing the series with a doubleheader on Saturday.  The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Warriors with their last previous defeat a 15-0 drubbing against No. 4 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) on March 19.

 

The Cavaliers didn’t waste much time getting on the board after arriving in Lewiston earlier in the day. Using a walk and a wild pitch to find his way to second base, Michael Cero soon finished the round trip as Jordan Keeker laced a two-out single to center field.

 

After a 1-2-3 bottom half of the second, Kohler would get more support I the top of the third as the Cavalier bats registered a trio of runs on two hits to take a 4-0 lead. The inning had an inauspicious start however, as the first two batter struck out swinging against Warrior starter Austin Pentecost.

 

Jared Young, starting at third base for the fourth time this season, connected on an infield single before

Cero drew another walk to give CU a pair of baserunners. From there, Shidaki smashed a hit against the fence in right center, just out of reach of the LC State outfielder, for his fifth and sixth RBI of the season. Shidaki scored one batter later via a wild pitch for the final run of the frame.

 

The Warriors had a number of opportunities to get on the board as the team stranded multiple runners in the third and fourth innings, including the bases loaded in the third. The home side broke through against Kohler in the fifth as a pair of walks came back to haunt the starter.

 

With two outs, shortstop Bobby Tannehill sent a 2-1 pitch to right center to plate fellow infielder Trent Bridges. Billy Silvestri repeated the action, this time through the left side to score Eric Peterson. With the tying run at the dish, Kohler prevented further damage with a fly to right field.

 

The Cavs added three more in the seventh with Young posting an RBI double to score Sheldon Austria and Cero following with a triple to left center. Shidaki returned to the plate to score Cero with a single into left to make it a 7-2 contest.

 

Attempting one last comeback in the eighth, the Warriors once again loaded the bases only to see Kohler strike out Bridges to head to the ninth unscathed. On his way to a 170-pitch performance, Kohler returned to the mound for the final three outs. After a leadoff walk, the senior hurler received a fly to left and a strikeout before inducing a grounder to third, the first groundout of the game for the Warriors, to complete the game.

 

Improving his record to 5-3, the complete game was Kohler’s fourth of the season. Entering the game with a 1.66 earned-run average, Pentacost took the loss for LCSC, falling to 5-3 on the year. Pentacost struck out five in five innings of work while Kohler registered seven strikeouts and five walks in the nine-inning shift.

 

CU outhit the Warriors 10 to 9 overall, but the Warriors stranded 13 runners compared to just nine for the Cavs. LCSC was also charged with three errors in the contest, none of which resulted in an unearned run, however.  

 

Young, Shidaki and Keeker each had two-hit days at the plate for Concordia with Shadaki driving in three and Cero scoring on three occasions.

 

Bridges and Knigge both went 2 for 4 for the Warriors.