The Bushnell University Beacons made their first postseason appearance one to remember on Monday with the first Cascade Conference title in program history. Lewis-Clark State defeated UBC in the first game of the day by a final of 7-1, but the Beacons stayed perfect in the postseason with an 8-2 win in the nightcap.
The Warriors turn their attention to the NAIA Opening Round, presented by Avista, May 13-16 at Harris Field. The field will be announced by the national office on May 9.
GAME ONE: No. 5 LC State def. UBC 7-1
Decker Stedman threw a pair of shutout innings before Carter Booth led off the top of the third with a solo shot to give LC State an early lead. Nick Seamons doubled before rain suspended play overnight.
The contest resumed with Seamons on second and one out. A wild pitch moved Seamons to third before a sacrifice fly by Jake Gish made it 2-0. Brandon Cabrera drew a walk and scored from first on a double in the left-center gap off the bat of Charlie Updegrave to send Jace Hanson to the mound with a 3-0 lead.
Bulla Ephan added to the advantage with his second home run of the season to start the fourth inning. Booth walked and Seamons was hit by a pitch to keep things going and a single by Gish made it a 5-0 contest.
Hanson allowed a run but worked the Warriors out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout in the home half of the fifth inning. He picked up two punchouts in the sixth before handing the ball over to Cameron Smith who retired the first batter he faced to end the inning.
A run came in without a hit in the LC half of the eighth inning. Ephan drew a walk and Ike George took over on the bases to steal second. Magnum Hofstetter forced the UBC defense to rush and commit an error that brought George around to score.
Smith struck out two in the bottom of the eighth and the Warriors added insurance runs in the ninth. Gish singled and took second on an error, then scored on a base hit by Cabrera. Smith worked around a one-out single to close out the contest for his sixth save of the season.
Hanson earned the win after striking out three in 3.2 innings. Smith fanned three without a walk in 3.1 frames. Gish led the offense with two hits and two RBI.
GAME TWO: Bushnell def. No. 5 LC State 8-2
LC State wasted little time getting on the board with two runs in the first half of the opening frame. Booth Walked and scored on a double by Seamons. A wild pitch moved Seamons to third before a groundout by Dominic Signorelli made it 2-0.
Bushnell scratched a run across in the bottom of the third before a double play got LC out of a jam. Starting pitcher Hiroyuki Yamada fielded a ground ball up the first base line, tossed it to catcher Jakob Marquez who finished the play with a bullet to first.
Jake Green took over on the mound with the Beacons threatening in the fifth and helped the Warriors escape without allowing a run. Zachary Ediger assisted in relief with a strikeout in the sixth to maintain the 2-1 advantage.
The Beacons took control with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh and took advantage of Warrior pitching miscues to take an 8-2 lead. LC State was unable to respond in the final two innings.
Booth and Marquez led LC with three hits each.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will host the NAIA Opening Round, presented by Avista, at Harris Field May 13-16. All Lewis-Clark State games will be broadcast live in the LC Valley on 95.5 FM and AM 950 KOZE and streamed free online here.
