BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Lewis & Clark baseball team opened the 2011 season with a 7-5 victory over the Occidental Tigers on Friday afternoon at Anderson Field. Senior Adam Rager earned the victor for the Pioneers, pitching six innings and striking out three.

Senior Roland Greene was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored and Andrew Frisina was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and one run for the Pioneers. Rager threw 6.0 innings earning his first win of 2011 while Hardeep Gujral got the three-inning save.

The Pioneers fell down a run early, but plated a pair in the second to pick up a 2-1 advantage. A single to center brought in senior Tucker Laurence, who started the inning with a walk, for the Pios first run of the inning. Frisina knocked in Gianluca Giarrizzo moments later with a single of his own.

The Tigers responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to capture a 3-2 advantage.

After a scoreless third, in which each team sent just three men to the plate, the Pioneers got a couple of timely hits to take control of the scoreboard. Greene doubled in senior Sam Holman, who walked, before Frisina hit a line-drive homerun down the left field line pushing the Lewis & Clark led to 5-3.

Greene extended the Pioneers lead in the sixth inning after connecting for a solo shot. The Pioneers added to their lead in the eighth. Laurence doubled and with two outs Geoff Wertz hit a ground ball to their base, which took a beneficial hop to allow Wertz to reach and Laurence to score.

The Tigers earned a couple runs back but it would not be enough to keep the Pios from their first win under new head coach Tom Flynn.

The Pioneers and the Tigers will meet again on Saturday for two games. Game one is set to begin at 11 a.m.