The No. 5 Warrior Baseball team closed out the 2024 regular season with a four-game sweep of Bushnell University on Sunday to cap a perfect 20-0 regular-season home slate and extend its NAIA-leading winning streak to 16 games.
Carter Booth had a big day at the plate with five hits and seven RBI. He slugged 1.313 over the weekend with four home runs. Both Warrior starters earned wins on the day with Hiroyuki Yamada notching his fourth and Decker Stedman tallying his third.
The Warriors close the regular season with a 35-9 record overall and 21-3 in CCC play. Prior to the start of the first game, Jake Gish, Booth, Leo Rivera, Stedman, Jace Hanson, Eli Takalo, Pu’ukani De Sa, Nick Seamons and Cameron Smith were honored in a Senior Day ceremony.
LC State will play at home for the remainder of its season as the Warriors clinched the Cascade Conference regular season title and the right to host the CCC tournament. The 2024 Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, starts May 4 at Harris Field and the Warriors will face Bushnell once again.
GAME ONE: No. 5 LC State def. Bushnell 13-2 (7 inn.)
Brandon Cabrera launched his third home run of the weekend to give LC State a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Dominic Signorelli and Charlie Updegrave each earned a free pass and both scored on a two-out double off the bat of Seamons.
Bushnell got on the board with a solo shot in the top of the second before Yamada ended the frame with a strikeout.
LC State doubled its lead in the home half of the second with three more runs. Booth homered to left to get the offense going before Cabrera and Signorelli both walked. Gish stepped to the plate next and tripled to clear the bases and push the Warrior advantage to 6-1.
The Beacons tallied a run in the first half of the third inning before the Warriors scored three runs for the third straight inning. De Sa walked and Bulla Ephan was hit by a pitch to put two on. Booth drilled his second big fly of the contest, this time a three-run shot, to left to make it 9-2 in favor of the Warriors.
Yamada worked a 1-2-3 fourth inning and LC State capitalized on pitching miscues in the home half of the frame. Gish and Updegrave reached with a hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively, and a wild pitch moved both into scoring position. Alex Sol made it 10-2 with a sacrifice fly in his first plate appearance of the weekend.
Hanson took over on the mound in the sixth inning and retired the Beacons in order. LC State posted another three-run inning in the bottom of the frame.
Signorelli led off with a single and Gish was hit by a pitch. Sol doubled to deep left to plate a run and Ephan notched a base hit to drive in two for a 13-2 lead though six. Hanson worked a scoreless top of the seventh to end the game via the run rule.
Yamada earned the win on the mound with five strikeouts through five innings. Booth led the offense with two hits, both home runs, and four RBI. Gish, Seamons, Sol and Ephan each drove in two runs.
In the second game:
A double play got LC State out of the top of the second and Stedman held Bushnell scoreless in the third before LC State tallied three runs. Booth walked and Cabrera singled and stole second. Gish singled to bring in a run and Updegrave upped the score to 2-0 with a double. Hofstetter drove in the third run with a fielder’s choice.
Stedman struck out a batter as part of a 1-2-3 top of the fourth.
The Warriors broke the game open in the sixth. Jakob Marquez singled and Rivera reached on a fielder’s choice before Booth doubled down the left field line to plate a pair. Gish followed with a double off the wall in center and Updegrave and Jack Sheward notched back-to-back two-baggers to push the lead to 8-0.
Bushnell struck for four runs on five hits in the top of the seventh to cut the LC State lead in half. A double play by the Warrior defense helped get LC out of the inning with an 8-4 advantage.
Zachary Ediger came out of the bullpen in the eighth and struck out two and Booth led off the home half of the frame with his third home run of the day. Gish singled and scored on a triple by Noah Weintraub, and Weintraub scored on a knock by Sheward to push the margin to 11-4 through eight.
Ediger closed out the contest with a pair of strikeouts to end the regular season with LC State’s 16th straight victory.
Stedman earned the win with five innings of shutout baseball. Booth led the offense with a 3-for-4 game at the plate and three RBI. Gish also tallied three hits and Gish, Updegrave and Sheward each knocked in two runs.
UP NEXT
LC State hosts the Cascade Conference Baseball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, May 4-6 at Harris Field. The Warriors open their postseason play May 4 at 4 p.m. against Bushnell. Tickets and streaming packages are on sale now. All Warrior games will be broadcast live in the LC Valley on 95.5 FM and AM 950 KOZE and streaming free online here.
