LEWISTON, Idaho – The first day of action at the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, featured games from both ends of the competitive spectrum. Second-seeded Oregon Tech was eliminated after falling 6-4 to third-seeded Corban in 13 innings, then 21-1 to LC State. After defeating OIT, LC State took the matchup against Corban 4-1 to remained undefeated on the day.
GAME 1: Corban def. Oregon Tech 6-4 (13 innings)
Third-seeded Corban University outlasted Oregon Tech in a 13-inning standoff to open the 2021 Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. A four-run 13
th inning pushed the Warriors ahead of OIT 6-4. Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon of Corban and OIT’s Trask Telesmanich both had stellar starts on the mound with over 23 strikeouts between the two.
Both starting pitchers in the opening contest kept the opposing offenses at bay through the first three innings. An error by the OIT defense gave Corban the opportunity in the fourth and the Warriors capitalized with an RBI base hit up the middle by Sede.
A pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh gave second-seeded Oregon Tech a 2-1 advantage over third-seeded Corban, but the Warriors answered in the ninth to tie the game.
Corban put up four runs with an RBI triple by Keene O’Brien, bunt single by Aidan Bunn, and two-RBI single by Dakota Fingar. OIT tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning, but fell short two runs.
Jacob Bowser threw 6.1 innings of relief and struck out five before handing the ball over Jacob Asa closed the game out.
Simon finished his day with 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings, and Telesmanich fanned 13 in a full nine innings.
GAME 2: LC State def. Oregon Tech 21-1
LC State’s offense could not be stopped in the second game of the day. The Warriors notched 16 hits in the 21-1 victory over Oregon Tech to eliminate the Owls from the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. Eric Chavarria gave the Warriors a strong start with seven strikeouts in seven innings and did not walk a batter.
The Warriors struck for one run in each of the first two innings on RBI from Brock Ephan and Zach Threlfall. After an OIT run in the third, LC State answered with nine runs in the home half of the inning. RBI from four different Warriors combined with Oregon Tech errors busted the game wide open with LC leading 11-1 after three innings.
LC State continued its offensive attack with three in the fourth and one in the sixth. The Warriors added on with a five-spot in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
The Warriors were led by Chavarria’s quality seven innings and four hits by Luke White. Dillon Plew knocked in four runs.
For OIT, both Kaleb Keelan and Alex Malcom had two hits each. Keelan drive in the lone run for the Owls.
GAME 3: LC State def. Corban 4-1
The final game of the day featured a pair of Warrior teams battling it out to remain unbeaten in the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. A pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth helped push the team from LC State to its second victory over the day with a 4-1 win over Corban, moving the visiting Warriors to 1-1 in the tournament. The two teams will face off again on Sunday at noon.
LC State drew first blood with a run in the first. Riley Way doubled and came in to score on a base hit by Ephan. Corban’s Daktoa Fingar evened the game in the top of the fourth with a solo shot to left.
Riley Way put the LC Warriors back on top in the bottom of the fourth with a two-RBI single to plate Aidan Nagle and Alex Light. Matt James drilled a solo shot in the sixth to make it 4-1.
Way led LC State with three hits and two RBI, while Holmes, Greg Blackman and Jesse Parker combined for 13 strikeouts.
Justin Tow led the Corban offense with three hits while Fingar had the lone RBI.
LC State will face Corban again on Sunday at noon for a shot at the Cascade Conference tournament title.