LC baseball upsets No. 14 Linfield

By Maddie Lee /// Staff Writer

Lewis & Clark baseball took the final game of the three game series against No. 14 Linfield this past weekend. It was the first LC baseball victory over Linfield since 2009, curbing a 19 game losing streak to the Wildcats.

Alex Heimbrodt (’15) pitched the full nine on Sunday, and only allowed one run in the Pioneers’ 5-1 victory.

“I’m so proud of the way we played on Sunday,” said Heimbrodt. “We made every single play on defense, came out with clutch hitting late in the game and refused to back down.”

The Pioneers’ offensive found their stride in the eighth inning with a four-run surge. The game was tied at 1-1. Bradley Lezak (’16) stood on third after reaching first on a walk and advancing on Michael Kinkenon’s (’15) base hit. Kinkenon stood on first.

Ellis James Hand (‘15) stepped up to the plate with the go-ahead run on third and two outs. He poked a single through the infield to score Lezak. Connor Eggleston (‘18) then drove in Kinkenon with his own base knock. Tommy Masarri (’17) hit the nail into the coffin with two more RBIs to put the score at 5-1.

The Wildcats, aside from Scott Hilpert’s (’17) solo dinger in the fifth, were unable to get ahold of Heimbrodt’s pitching. They struggled to make solid contact on the veteran lefty’s changeup and consistently popped out. Heimbrodt gave up only four hits, three of which were singles.

The Pioneers lost the first two games of the series with scores of 5-1 and 3-1 respectively. They continue conference play on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 in a three game series at home against Pacific University.