Kevin Hamann pitched a masterpiece on Friday against Corban
VANCOUVER – Kevin Hamann tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout to lead his top-seeded Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) Warriors over the No. 4 seed Corban (Ore.) Warriors on the first day of action at the
NAIA West Grouping Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, at Thunderbird Park in Vancouver.
LC State (46-7) will face hosts UBC on Saturday at 1 p.m., with the winner moving on to the tournament championship final on Sunday. Corban (25-26) will play an elimination game on Saturday at 4 p.m. against either the College of Idaho/Marymount (Calif.).
Tyler McDowell went 4-for-5 batting and drive in two runs for LCSC, while J.J. Robinson and Micah Brown each collected three hits. Robert Smith Jr., also had two RBI.
Daniel Freiburger had the lone Corban hit and Zach Penrod got on base with a walk.
The LCSC offence produced seven runs on 13 hits, including six doubles, which increased its NAIA-leading team total to 163. Two of Robinson’s hits were doubles.
Corban starter Connor Mattison matched Hamann for four innings, stymying the Warriors until the fifth. Logan Griffin got things started with a one-out walk and scored two batters later on a Robinson single and a Corban error, allowing Jacob Zanon to score too. Brown followed with his first hit to plate Robinson and put LC State in front 3-0.
Robert Smith Jr. knocked a two-run homer over the left-field fence to make it 5-0.
Back-to-back doubles by Brown and McDowell plated another run in the seventh and McDowell added his second RBI in the ninth as he drove home Robinson who began the inning with his second double of the contest.
For Corban, Penrod earned his walk as the second batter for the Warriors in the bottom of the first, but he was caught trying to steal second base.
Corban got two more runners on base the rest of the way: Freiburger, who hit a two-out single in the third inning, and Scott Weidlich, who reached in the seventh on an error.
Live audio of all LCSC games is available on 950AM KOZE or online at
www.koze-sports.com.
- with files from Lewis-Clark State Athletics