LEWISTON, Idaho – The Bushnell University baseball team had a front row seat to the impressive strength of CCC Champion Lewis-Clark State College on Saturday, falling in the opener of a four-game series, 29-2.
The Warriors (46-4, 17-3 CCC) showed a little of what has made them a national power for the past quarter-century as the No. 4 ranked team in the NAIA pounded out 23 hits including seven home runs.
Bushnell got off to a strong start in the top of the first as
Jeff Fripp crushed his team-leading eighth home-run, a two-run blast to give the Beacons a 2-0 lead. They would amount to the only runs of the game for the visitors as CCC Pitcher of the Year candidate Trent Sellers went five innings, striking out ten batters and giving up four hits to improve to 10-0 on the season.
Abbott Haffar (3-5) got the start and took the loss for the Beacons.
Bushnell (11-25, 9-12 CCC) still has plenty to play for as the series rolls on into a double-header on Saturday. Four teams qualify for the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament and at the moment the Beacons sit a half-game ahead of Oregon Tech for fourth place.
The fourth game of the scheduled four-game series is currently up in the air after Saturday's scheduled double-header turned into a single game. Originally scheduled to begin at 10:00 am, a sprinkler malfunction caused a three-hour delay on the Warriors field. In addition, a Hall of Fame event scheduled for LC State did not allow for the second game of the day to be played as scheduled.
