WALLA WALLA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College baseball jumped out to an early lead but Blues starting pitcher Mateus Conaway settled in and the Blues scored five unanswered runs to earn the series sweep.
THE BASICS
Whitman 5, Lewis & Clark 3
(Lewis & Clark 17-19-1, Northwest Conference 8-13)
(Whitman 23-13, NWC 14-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pioneers jumped out to their second lead of the weekend and largest edge in the top of the first inning but couldn't keep the bats going in their fourth-straight loss.
Junior
Justin Cavagnaro and sophomore
Brandon Gonzaga each recorded two of Lewis & Clark's eight hits. Cavagnaro went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Gonzaga added two hits in four at-bats and freshman Brett Potter chipped in a hit and two RBI. Senior
Luke Bass was the only other player to reach multiple times, as he had a single and a walk.
Freshman
Caden Hodina earned the start and went 4+ innings and allowed five hits, five walks and three earned runs. Hodina tacked on three strikeouts. Junior
Luke Ritter was the first pitcher out of the pen and scattered three hits, two runs (one earned) and two strikeouts over three innings. Senior
Anthony Clerici pitched the eighth and allowed one walk and struck out one.
Conaway gave up all three of his runs and two of his hits in the first inning. He finished the game allowing six hits, three walks and three runs over eight innings. Conaway added nine strikeouts.
Lewis & Clark put together one of their best offensive innings of the weekend in the top of the first.
Jack Savant and
Brennen Davis each worked walks to open the inning but Conaway struck out the next two batters.
Will Heron extended the inning with a hit by pitch to load the bases and Potter laced a single just off the tip of the first-basemen's glove into right field for a two-run single. Cavagnaro followed with a double to left field to plate Heron to make it 3-0.
Hodina allowed baserunners in each of the first three innings but worked his way out of trouble. In the first, the Blues loaded the bases up with two outs but Hodina struck out Sam Mieszkowski-Lapping to end the frame.
Mieszkowski-Lapping cut the deficit to 3-1 with a solo home run to lead off the fourth. With two on and one out in the inning, Hodina induced a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.
The Blues took the lead in the fifth. Hodina walked each of the first two batters and was replaced by Ritter. Jack Bickerton made the Pioneers pay with a three-run homer.
Ritter would immediately buckle down and retired the next six batters to keep the Pioneers within one. In the seventh, Whitman scratched across an unearned run. The leadoff batter reached on an error and raced all the way to second. Garrett Runyan made it 5-3 with an RBI single to left field. Whitman threatened to add to their advantage but Ritter recorded a 6-4-3 double play to keep the Pioneers within striking distance.
Lewis & Clark put on at least one runner in six of their eight innings against Conaway but couldn't come through with any rallies. The Blues turned double plays in the second and third and Lewis & Clark never managed to get another runner into scoring position against Conaway after the first.
The Pioneers did threaten to tie the game in the ninth inning against reliever Billy Wall. With one out,
Joaquin Sandoval recorded a pinch-hit single and Gonzaga followed with a single to center to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Wall recorded a fly out to right and a ground out to second to close out the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Gonzaga recorded his second-straight, multi-hit game and finished the weekend 5-11 with a double and a run scored.
- The Pioneers recorded a season-high three double plays in both games one and three of the series.
- Conaway threw 132 pitches over eight innings to become the second-straight Whitman starter to go eight innings.
- Lewis & Clark (8-13) is still mathematically alive for a spot in the 2024 Northwest Conference Tournament. They will need Linfield University (11-12) to lose to Pacific University (10-10) on Wednesday in a midweek conference make-up game to keep their hopes alive. Lewis & Clark would then need to sweep their series against Pacific University and need help from Whitworth University (12-9) against George Fox University (10-11).
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will head to Forest Grove on Friday at 3:30 p.m. for a single game against Pacific. The series will resume on Sunday with a doubleheader because Lewis & Clark has their Graduation on Saturday afternoon.