VANCOUVER - The NAIA No. 2 Lewis Clark State Warriors gave the UBC Thunderbirds a rough welcome to conference action on Friday, beating the 'Birds 13-1 in Lewiston, Idaho, behind a dominant start from Michael Noteware.
The Warriors were technically the away team, as this weekend's four-game series was originally scheduled for Vancouver before being moved to Idaho to avoid weather issues, so they hit first, and used the opportunity well. UBC starter
Sean Callegari was tagged for two runs in the top of the first and two more in the second to put the 'Birds in an early hole.
That was a big problem for UBC, because Noteware was locked in on the mound for the Warriors. He sat down the first 12 batters he faced in order before giving up a walk, and his no-hit bid ended with a single in the sixth. He ended up going 7.1 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, and striking out 11.Â
After Callegari got through the third and fourth relatively unscathed, the Warriors staged a big two-out rally in the fifth to chase him from the game and tack another three runs on to his line, making it a 7-0 game.
Alex Graham took over, but didn't have any more success, as the Warriors put the game away with a five-run sixth to make his outing a short one. They were all unearned however, as a two-out error on a ground ball left the door open for the big inning. UBC made a total of four errors on the day, leading to six unearned runs.
Bryan Pawlina allowed one run and one hit over 1.1 innings of work.
Tyler Gillies managed to close things out on a strong note with two clean innings and a strikeout.Â
The 'Birds got their lone run in the ninth, when
Tyson Popoff singled, advanced to second on
Kevin Biro's walk, and then scored after a
Bruce Yari single and an error by the centre fielder.
Sebastian Wong had the other hit for UBC, and Tyler Ennis walked twice.
LC State is now 10-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while the T-Birds fall to 7-4 and 0-1. The teams have a doubleheader scheduled for tomorrow at 12 p.m., and game four is slated for Sunday at 12 p.m.Â
-30-
