LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon Baseball split the day against No. 5 Lewis-Clark State College, opening with an impressive 10–4 upset victory in a rainout makeup game before dropping the second contest, 15–3 in seven innings.
Game 1
Jake Lenberger set the tone early, working a quick first inning and allowing just one baserunner on a single. Eastern capitalized immediately.
Jace Nagler led off with a ground-rule double, and
Andrew Demianew followed with a single to move him to third.
Mario Landeros then grounded out to shortstop, bringing Nagler home for the game's first run.
Lenberger remained sharp in the second, again limiting the Warriors to one baserunner while inducing three routine groundouts. In the bottom half,
Greyson McDaniel extended the lead with a solo home run, putting the Mountaineers up 2–0. Lewis-Clark answered with a run after Jackson Jaha walked and later scored on a single, trimming the lead to 2–1.
Eastern quickly responded.
Tommy Whiles was hit by a pitch to start the inning, followed by a single from Landeros and a double from
Jason DeBone. McDaniel added an RBI sacrifice fly, and
Jaxon Logsdon capped the rally with a two-run homer to make it 6–1.
Lenberger cruised through the next inning on just six pitches. Eastern added another run on consecutive singles and an RBI knock from Landeros, extending the lead to 7–1. Both teams were quiet in the fifth, highlighted by a key defensive double play from the Warriors.
Lenberger continued his dominance through the middle innings, and Demianew added a two-out home run in the sixth. In the eighth, Eastern capitalized on a Lewis-Clark baserunning mistake to turn a double play, then added insurance runs. Logsdon reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored on a triple by
Carson Gerding. Nagler followed with a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 10–1.
The Warriors mounted a late push with back-to-back home runs in the ninth, cutting the deficit to 10–4.
Zakaia Michaels entered in relief and shut the door, striking out one and inducing two flyouts to secure the upset.
Lenberger (1–1) earned the win with eight strong innings, while Landon Webb (5–2) took the loss for Lewis-Clark.
Game 2
Lewis-Clark State bounced back in the second game, jumping out to an early lead and maintaining control throughout. Back-to-back doubles in the first inning gave the Warriors a 1–0 advantage. They extended it to 3–0 in the second on a two-run homer by Ryan Prescott, followed by a solo shot from Izzy Madariaga in the third.
The Warriors added to their lead in the fifth with more extra-base hits and a sacrifice fly, making it 6–0. Eastern responded in the bottom half, loading the bases before Nagler delivered a two-run double to left-center. Demianew followed with a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 6–3.
However, Lewis-Clark pulled away decisively in the sixth, scoring nine runs on three hits while capitalizing on five walks, one hit by pitch and a grand slam from Prescott. The outburst extended the lead to 15–3 and triggered the run rule.
Eastern was unable to generate further offense, and the Warriors closed out the game in the seventh to secure the split and a 3–1 series win.
Up Next
The Mountaineers return to Optimist Field this weekend to host Corban University in their final series of the season. First pitch is scheduled for Saturday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m., with Sunday's game featuring a pregame senior celebration.
