LCSC baseball looks to rise to the occasion
Mar. 30—The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team begins its final home series of the regular season at noon Saturday with a doubleheader against Cascade Conference foe Oregon Tech at Harris Field.
The Warriors (19-7), ranked No. 3 in the previous NAIA coaches top 25 poll, will be in an unusual situation, at least historically. LCSC sits in fourth place in the conference with a 4-4 record, and their seven losses matches their season total from 2022.
For the first time since March 1-3, 2019, the Warriors dropped a conference series. LCSC fell 3-1 in Sunday's series finale at British Columbia and dropped the four-game set three games to one.
The goals, however, remain the same for the Warriors and fifth-year coach Jake Taylor.
"I believe that everybody knows that being a part of the Warrior baseball program brings a level of awareness and sense of urgency to succeed at a very high level," Taylor said. "All we continue to ask of our players is their commitment to the community, their academics and our program. As we progress through the season, our goals do not change. We are aiming to continue to improve on a daily basis and play our best baseball down the stretch."
The four-game series against the Owls (20-10, 7-1), which continues with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. Sunday, is a critical one for tiebreaking purposes.
If the Warriors were to win three of the games, it would give them the edge thanks to head-to-head results. Depending on what happens in the four-game series between first-place Bushnell (Ore.) (16-9, 4-0) and third-place College of Idaho (19-10, 5-3), LCSC potentially could vault back to its usual spot at the top of the conference.
"(We have to) simply have a great week of practice and continue to improve in every facet of our game," Taylor said. "Last week (against UBC), our staff pitched it extremely well but our offense was lacking for sure. We will keep grinding away until we can put it together."
Oregon Tech might just be the team to put it together against.
The Warriors have a 23-2 record in 25 games since 2019 against the Owls and, despite their current standing in the conference, Oregon Tech has lost three doubleheaders this season.
"We don't often concern ourselves with our opponents from week to week," Taylor said. "We are more focused on how we approach the daily preparation that has a direct correlation as to how we perform on the weekend. We have begun the week with a few great efforts with energy and focus and will, obviously, look to carry that into our last regular-season home series."
To walk out with the series win, LCSC will have to overcome a solid Oregon Tech pitching staff (with a team ERA of 4.83 this season) while also trying to stifle an offense that averages 7.4 runs per game. The Warriors' pitchers and catchers also have to be extra attentive of the Owls, who have swiped 62 bases this season on 78 attempts.
In comparison, LCSC has a team ERA of 4.16, is averaging 8.2 runs per game this season and have stolen 17 bases on 24 attempts.
"(We have to) focus on what we can control," Taylor said. "Compete for each other and play harder than Oregon Tech this weekend."
Kowatsch can be reached at 208-848-2277, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.
