LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Lewis & Clark College baseball raced out to an 8-0 lead and junior closer Anthony Clerici closed the door with his program-record 10th save in a 10-7 season-opening win over Occidental College.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 10, Occidental 7
(Lewis & Clark 1-0)
(Occidental 0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday's opener was a game of run with Lewis & Clark scoring eight runs in their first three at-bats, before Occidental tightened the game with six runs between the sixth and seventh innings. Clerici pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, including one strikeout, before the game was called due to darkness.
Junior ace Brett Pierson pitched the opened five innings and allowed just one run to earn the victory. Pierson struck out five and limited the Tigers to six hits and two walks.
Offensively, the Pioneers racked up 11 hits, 11 walks and five extra-base hits-with the majority of the damage coming early on. Lewis & Clark could have put up even more runs, but the Pioneers left 14 runners on base over their eight at-bats.
Sophomore center fielder Brennen Davis opened the year 3-3 and finished the day 3-5 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and a walk.
Senior Jack Savant and junior Jacob Ghammachi each added two hits apiece. Savant, who was hitting out of the leadoff spot, went 2-4 with two runs, one RBI and a pair of walks. Ghammachi also reached four times, as he went 2-3 with two runs and two walks.
Senior All-American Jack Thomson bashed a three-run home run to make it 6-0 early and added two walks to reach three times in six trips to the plate.
Lewis & Clark jumped all over Occidental from the start. In the first inning, Savant walked and moved to third base on Davis' first double of the day. After a Luke Bass single loaded the bases, Savant and Davis both moved up 90 feet with Savant scoring the first run of the 2023 season.
The Pioneers struck for five runs in the top of the second. Each of the first four and eight of the first nine batters reached in the inning. Mason Lee led off with a walk and Ghammachi singled to put two on. After an Occidental error loaded the bases, law-school student Jacob Serafini picked up right where he left off in the 2022 season with a two-run double to left.
Occidental starting pitcher Dante Tardino retired the next batter, before Thomson crushed a three-run shot to make it 6-0. Davis added his second-consecutive double and Bass was hit by a pitch to put two on. Sophomore Will Heron ended Tardino's day with an RBI double to cap off the five-run inning.
Lewis & Clark tacked on one more run in the third. Savant and Davis singled to sandwich an intentional walk to Thomson all with one out. Heron made the hosts pay with his second-straight run-scoring hit, an RBI single, to push the Pios advantage to 8-0.
Occidental got a run back in the third but the score would stay 8-1 until the sixth inning. In the top of the inning, Ghammachi and Serafini walked and Savant singled to center to plate Ghammachi from second.
The hosts answered with five runs in the bottom of the sixth against the Pioneers bullpen.
Lewis & Clark tacked on one more insurance run in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, junior John Delaney pinch hit and was hit by a pitch to plate Davis.
Occidental added a run on a sac fly in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't muster anything against Clerici as the sun set over Anderson Field.
DEEPER LOOK
- Clerici, who set the single-season program record with eight saves last spring, broke a tie for the program record with Joel Johnson ('88) and Austin Conniff ('19).
- Thomson moved into second-place in program history for career home runs. His second inning homer was his 27th career home run, breaking a tie with Bob D'Aboy ('84) and Chris Dutton ('87). The program record for career home runs is 39 by Bill Fellows ('87).
- The season-opening victory is the Pioneers first under head coach Matt Kosderka and first since 2016, when they defeated Whitman College in a non-conference game 7-0.
- Freshman Nathan Kerr made his collegiate debut in relief and went 0.2 innings.
- Firday's matchup was the first meeting between the two programs since February 13, 2011. Occidental took three out of the four games during the two teams' four-game set in California that season.
WHO'S NEXT
The Pioneers will play Occidental in a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 and 2:30 p.m. as part of their season-opening four-game road trip this weekend.