Whitworth takes two from baseball during weekend series

By Caitlin Basilio /// Sports Editor

After postponing the first games of a series due to the weather, Lewis & Clark Baseball took on the Whitworth Pirates with two games last Sunday, and one game on Monday.

LC split its doubleheader on Sunday, winning game one 11-5 and losing game two 2-9.

Tommy Massari (’17) started the rally for the Pioneers when he hit a single to shortstop, stole second base and scored on a single up the middle by Corey Davis (’14). Then, Jacob Burton (’17) hit a single through the right side scoring Andrew Traver (’15), who got on base from a walk and advanced to second on Davis’ hit, and Davis advanced to third. A bunt single by Ben Beck (’17) scored Davis for the third run of the inning.

The rally continued during the bottom of the fifth as Matthew Cathcart (’16) hit a single, stole second base, and advanced to third on a ground out. Hayden Higger (’15) then singled to right scoring Cathcart. The Pios then loaded the bases as Burton stepped up to the plate and singled down the right field line, making the score 6-2. The Pios scored again in the sixth, earning one run, and in the seventh inning, earning four more runs, making the final score 11-5.

Alex Heimbrodt (’15) took the win on the mound for the Pios, pitching six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and walking two and striking out three. Ryan Strombom (’15) also saw time on the mound, pitching three innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking three.

Massari led game one for the Pios going 5-5 at the plate, while Higger and Burton each finished with four hits. Cathcart and Davis finished with two hits, and Bradley Lezak (’16) and Beck finished with one.

“We came out of the gate ready to play. If we maintained that mentality throughout the series we would have had a much better shot at winning it,” Massari said.

The Pirates got revenge on the Pios during the second game as their pitcher Cory Mack pitched a complete game giving up only two runs on seven hits while striking out seven. John Trupin (’16) took the loss for the Pios pitching seven innings allowing eight runs on fifteen hits, while walking one and striking out five. Massari scored the only two runs for the Pios in the bottom of the seventh when he hit his first career homerun to left center scoring Conner Sick (’17) who reached on a single to right field.

“We got flat after the win in the first game. It seemed as if we were complacent with just one win. We could have done a much better job at staying focused throughout the series,” Massari added.

The final game of the series took place on Monday, where the rare sun made a special appearance. Playing in such great weather did not help the Pios, as they lost game three of the series 3-13. Aaron Landecker (’16) took the loss on the mound for the Pios pitching four and one third innings allowing six runs on five hits, while walking five and striking out two. Blake Howell (’16), Kyle Tibbett (’15), and Davis also pitched for the Pios.

“A goal for the rest of the season is to see how much progress we can make in the win column from last year to this year, given that we have already reached the amount of wins we had all last year,” Massari said. “We need to improve on applying pressure throughout the entirety of the game, rather than having one or two productive innings and then going flat again,” he added.

This series moves the Pios to 9-17-1 overall and 3-13 in the Northwest Conference. This weekend the Pios head up to Tacoma, Washington to take on Puget Sound.