Irvin pitches Warriors to series split
Zachary Shore, LCSC
LEWISTON, Idaho – Peter Irvin (SR/Redmond, Wash.) produced the best outing of his career, allowing one unearned run on five hits with five strikeouts in six innings and reliever
Anthony Balderas (JR/Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) earned his third save to help the Lewis-Clark State College baseball team to a four-game series split with The University of British Columbia.
The Warriors won the contest by a score of 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Harris Field to improve to 36-7 overall and 22-5 in the NAIA West while UBC falls to 31-16 and 17-10 in conference play where they remain tied with College of Idaho for second behind LCSC.
The top finisher in the conference besides LCSC will host the NAIA West tournament the first week of May with the winner earning an automatic bid to an NAIA World Series Opening Round.
Irvin, a left-handed senior for the Warriors, tossed 79 pitches to improve to 3-1 on the season, earning his first win as a starter this season.
After both teams collected two-out hits in the second, Lewis-Clark State got on the board first in the third as
Gunnar Buhner (JR/Issaquah, Wash.) led off with a double to center and scored two batters later on
Robert Smith Jr.'s (SR/Fremont, Calif.)single up the middle.
In the fourth, Bruce Yari started the inning with a single off Irvin and scored on a two-out error by the Warriors to tie the score.
It was a brief tie as
Logan Griffin (JR/Apple Valley, Calif.) put LC back in front in the fifth. The speedy centerfielder doubled with two outs then scored after consecutive wild pitches.
The Thunderbirds threatened in the seventh as Balderas came on in relief and a pair of bunts and another error put two on with none out, but a groundout and a double play ended the threat.
Then in the eighth,
Dylan Tashjian (SR/Palm Springs, Calif.) added some insurance, driving a 1-0 fastball over the centerfield fence for his first home run of the season and the 3-1 win.
Griffin, who finished the series 8-for-16, added two more hits in his three at-bats and scored a run while
Tyler McDowell (SO/Puyallup, Wash.) also collected a pair of the Warriors eight hits.
LC State hits the road for their final regular-season road trip on Friday, Apr. 22 when they take on Simpson in Redding, Calif. at 5 p.m. Following their four-game NAIA West series, LC then faces Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash. on Tuesday, Apr. 26 before wrapping up the regular season with four games against Corban University at Harris Field Apr. 29-May 1.
Live coverage of the Simpson series will be provided by 950 AM KOZE or online at
www.koze-sports.com.