LEWISTON, Idaho  – The Bushnell University baseball team closed out their 2022 season on Sunday afternoon, dropping a pair of games to Lewis-Clark State College. Surpassing all expectations for their inaugural campaign, the Beacons finished the season just two games out of the playoffs.
 
Head Coach Tommy Richards said, "LC State is a complete team that is well coached and has a rich tradition. They make you work for every out and there are no holds in their lineup. What I love about this weekend is the experience it offered our young club moving forward. We played meaningful games in the last weekend against the best our conference has to offer."
 
LC State 11, Bushnell 3
 
Similar to Saturday's game, the Beacons jumped out to the early lead, this time off the bat of Kyle Casperson (pictured) who hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. The No. 4 Warriors, however, were again able to pull away, scoring ten unanswered runs.
 
LC ended the day with 11 runs on nine hits, scoring just seven earned runs as the Beacons committed five errors in the field. Kai Keamo threw the first five innings for the Beacons, allowing four earned runs on six hits whiles striking out five.
 
Bushnell struck out 17 times in the game, and managed five hits, including three from Casperson.
 
LC State 16, Bushnell 6 (Eight innings)
 
The Warriors had a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to invoke the run-rule and close the book on the Bushnell season in the night cap. Not before the Beacons had their best offensive output of the series, collecting nine hits.
 
Noah Montoya, Jeff Fripp, and Jameson Hussey had two hits apiece for the Beacons in the loss.
 
The Beacons end their debut campaign of the NAIA era with an 11-37 overall record, including a 9-14 mark in Cascade Collegiate Conference action. The team took fifth-place in the CCC and ended up two games behind 11-12 Corban.
 
"I think our group came along way this season from the beginning of the year," said Richards. "I am proud of the effort. As coaches we need to do a better job of putting them in situations to be successful. This launches us into the off-season with a bitter taste in our mouths and we are hungry to right the wrongs from this year. We know what the best team in the lead looks like now and we are a long way from that."
 
Lewis-Clark State finished the regular season at 48-4 overall and 19-3 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, winning the conference crown by six games. They will host the CCC tournament, beginning on May 9.