| LEWISTON, Idaho – The Warriors are home for the rest of 2026 after a gusty victory secured the top seed for No. 5 LC State in the 2026 Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank. LC State had one hit through the first seven innings, a two-run home run by Brandon Nguyen, but Warrior pitching did the rest with a combined shutout effort in a 6-0 win over Warner Pacific (Ore.).
The Warriors secured at least a share of the regular season title and hold the tiebreaker over (RV) British Columbia in the event of a tie in the standings.
LC State finished the regular season with a 38-7 record overall and 30-7 in CCC action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
LC State used a two-run home run by Nguyen in the bottom of the third to take a 2-0 lead. Payton Smith walked to leadoff the inning and stole second before Nguyen made the Warriors’ first hit of the game an impactful one.
Jace Taylor struck out seven batters through the first four innings including the side in order in the top of the fourth. Levi Anderson worked a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.
Warner Pacific threatened with two on and no outs in the top of the sixth before Zach Elsos came out of the bullpen. The Warrior defense turned an impressive double play before a strikeout got LC State out of the jam. The senior sat the Knights down in order in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts, and fanned three straight in the top of the eighth.
The Warriors added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Jackson Jaha walked and Bo Stinson took over on the bases. He moved to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ryan Prescott. Bryce Johnson walked and scored on a double by Sam Weber, the second hit of the day for LC State.
Spencer Zeller was hit by a pitch to keep the inning going and pulled off a double steal with Weber to put two in scoring position. Cade Westerlund drove in both with a single to right center to grow the advantage to 6-0.
Elsos got the first out of the top of the ninth and Jordan Lennartson came out of the bullpen with a runner on base. The junior forced the Knights into a game-ending double play to secure the top seed for LC State.
STAT RECAP
Nguyen and Westerlund each drove in two runs to lead the Warriors at the plate.
Taylor was solid through his four innings of work. He struck out seven batters and gave up just three hits. Anderson didn’t walk a batter in his inning and Elsos earned his first win on the mound with a masterful 3.1 innings of work. The senior struck out six and allowed only one base runner.
UP NEXT
LC State will host the CCC tournament at Harris Field with the first games set for May 1. Tickets go on sale Monday at 8 a.m. at lcwarriors.com/tickets.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors. |
