Lewis-Clark State baseball dominates British Columbia in Game 1 of series

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The No. 9 Lewis-Clark State baseball team needed a couple of innings to get going. Then it really got going.

The Warriors saw two home runs from junior right fielder Brandon Cabrera, another home run from junior shortstop Dominic Signorelli and starting pitcher Drake George went the distance in a 13-3 Cascade Conference win against British Columbia at Thunderbird Park.

Cabrera’s ninth and 10th home runs of the season were both two-run shots. Signorelli’s 13th long ball this year scored three.

Before LCSC (28-9, 14-3) opened the floodgates on offense, it had to go through a couple of early strikes from the Thunderbirds (30-14, 15-6).

British Columbia starts strong

Junior outfielder Mitchell Middlemiss hit an RBI single to center field to put British Columbia up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

The Warriors responded with an RBI sac fly from senior infielder Magnum Hofstetter in the top half of the third. The Thunderbirds returned fire in their side of the inning after junior outfielder Kaden Zarowney scored on a fielder’s choice. Zarowney’s trip to home plate was the last score for UBC until the ninth inning, when the game was all but sealed.

The fifth inning marked the turning point of the game for LCSC. Junior infielder Ike George scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game 2-2. After George scored, two runners were still on-base for Signorelli’s at-bat. He took advantage with his Cascade Conference-leading 13th home run to put the Warriors up 5-2.

Cabrera hit the first of his two-run long balls in the top of the seventh. He hit his second home run an inning later. The latter of the Aloha, Ore., product’s two-run shots accounted for the last scores of the game for LCSC.

Backing up the Warriors’ offense was solid pitching from their ace.

George goes the distance

For the second week in a row, Drake George went at least seven innings in his start. Last week, any chance there was for the junior righty to go the full nine innings was squashed after the game was suspended due to rain.

This week, there was no rain in Vancouver and nothing stopping George. He struck out nine Thunderbirds in his nine innings pitched and let up two earned runs and walked just one of 37 batters faced.

George’s outing was the first complete game for an LCSC pitcher since Trent Sellers threw a one-hitter against Corban on April 1, 2022. It’s the first time a Warrior has gone the full nine against the Thunderbirds on the road since Mark Kaiser on May 2, 2003.

Warriors on a roll

Friday’s win gave LCSC a 5-0 record against UBC this season. It’s also the ninth straight win for the Warriors.

Coming into Friday’s contest, the Warriors had a one-game lead over the Thunderbirds and Oregon Tech for first place in the Cascade Conference standings.

With LCSC’s win and the Owls’ loss on Friday to Bushnell, the Warriors now have a two-game lead in the conference standings with a chance to grow it further.

LCSC’s entire bullpen is fresh after George’s outing and the bats have been on fire for the Warriors (35 runs in their last three games).

With healthy arms and a rolling offense, LCSC is in a good position to win the series against UBC, and build a healthy lead in the conference going into the final series of the regular season next week.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE BRITISH COLUMBIA

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Booth cf 4 1 0 0 Young c 4 0 1 0

Seamons lf 5 3 2 2 Zarowny pr 0 1 0 0

Signorelli ss 5 1 2 4 Berg ph 1 0 0 0

Gish dh 5 1 2 1 Marsh 2b 3 0 0 0

Updegrave 1b 5 1 2 1 Lenihan 1b 4 1 1 1

Cabrera rf 5 2 3 4 McGill lf 4 0 0 0

De Sa 3b 4 0 1 0 Mddlmss rf 4 0 2 1

Ephan c 5 0 2 0 Draayers ss 4 1 2 0

Hofstetter 2b 3 1 0 1 Andrsn dh 4 0 2 0

George ph 0 3 0 0 Grant pr 0 0 0 0

Lamothe 3b 3 0 0 1

Boomer cf 3 0 0 0

Totals 41 13 14 13 Totals 34 3 8 3

Lewis-Clark State 001 040 350—13 14 2

British Columbia 101 000 001— 3 8 1

Lewis-Clark State ip h r er bb so

George (W, 6-0) 9.0 8 3 2 1 9

British Columbia ip h r er bb so

Beitel (L, 4-3) 6.0 7 5 4 1 9

Khan 1.0 4 3 3 0 1

Myttenar 0.2 2 4 4 0 0

McConnell 0.1 1 1 1 0 0

Huynh 1.0 0 0 0 0 1

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.