Pioneer LogLewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

Baseball struggles down stretch, loses to Concordia

April 16, 2010

by Michael G. Richman

For Lewis & Clark baseball, April certainly has been the cruelest month. Since a 15-10 win over Willamette on the last day of March, LC has dropped four straight to slip to 9-17 overall and 6-12 in the Northwest Conference. The most recent defeat came at the hands of Concordia University on Wednesday at home 13-4.   

Concordia jumped out to a one-nothing lead in the top of the first, but the Pioneers scored to tie the game at one. Tucker Laurence (’12) homered in the bottom of the second to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. It was Laurence’s fourth home run of the season.

Concordia grabbed the lead back in with a four-run fourth, but the Pios refused to go away. In the bottom half of the inning LC scored twice. With one out, Michael Ball (’12) doubled to right and then scored on a single by Sami Morgan (’10). With two out, Nate Grisham (’11) singled up the middle, bringing Morgan in to score. Grisham was thrown out trying to advance to second and the inning ended along with the Pioneer offense for the night.

Concordia scored in each of the next four innings, including three in the seventh and three in the eighth. Despite getting ten hits and drawing four walks, LC managed just four runs. The Pios stranded twelve base runners on the day.

One of the few midweek contests of the season challenged LC to adjust its pitching rotation. Eliot Smith (’13) started for the Pios, pitching two solid innings and allowing just one run.  Ryo Kawashima (’11) pitched a scoreless third before exiting the game. Will King (’13) struggled in the fourth, giving up four runs on five hits and recording just two outs. King was yanked after facing seven batters and replaced by Roland Greene (’11) who closed out the inning and pitched the fifth as well. Greene allowed a single run in his inning and a third. Adam Rager (’11) pitched the next three innings as the game got out of hand. Rager gave up seven runs, six earned, in three innings as Concordia took control in the late innings. Ball pitched a scoreless ninth for the Pios.

After four straight losses, LC finds itself in eighth place in the NWC heading in to its final home series of the season against no. 3 George Fox. If LC wins out to close the season it could finish above .500. The Pios close the season with a midweek game on the road against Pacific and then a series at no. 1 Pacific Lutheran next weekend.