WHITTIER, Calif.—Lewis & Clark College baseball senior Will Heron tied the NCAA DIII record for home runs in a single-game (four) in game two, as part of an offensive explosion that saw the Pioneers rack up 25 runs in a doubleheader sweep of host Whittier College.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 14, Whittier 4 (Game One)
Lewis & Clark 11, Whittier 4 (Game Two)
(Lewis & Clark 2-1)
(Whittier 2-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Heron hit four of the Pioneers eight home runs on Sunday, as Lewis & Clark earned their first two wins of the 2025 season and secured the series win over the Poets. The senior first baseman hit two solo home runs, a two-run shot and a grand slam to become the first NCAA DIII player since 2023 to hit four homers in a single game and the 23rd player in NCAA DIII history to accomplish the feat.
As a team, Lewis & Clark piled up 36 hits, 25 runs, 15 extra-base hits and eight home runs on Sunday. The team's pitching was also extremely solid, with starters Caden Hodina and Luke Ritter each allowing three runs or fewer over five innings.
GAME ONE RECAP
Senior Brennen Davis hit two, two-run homers and senior Justin Cavagnaro hit a go-ahead grand slam to lead Lewis & Clark to their first win of the season.
Davis went 3-4 with four runs scored, four RBI, a walk, a double and his first two home runs of the season. Cavagnaro added three hits, including a double and a homer, two runs scored and five RBI.
Sophomore Michael Aikawa was the third player with three or more hits as he finished 3-6 with a run scored and an RBI. Juniors Brandon Gonzaga (three runs) and Joaquin Sandoval (two RBI), Heron (two runs) and sophomore Bret Potter each added two hits apiece.
Hodina was solid in his first start of his sophomore season. He scattered nine hits and three runs over five innings and struck out three. Senior Ryan Harvey allowed one run on two hits over the next two innings. Sophomores Shane Buchinder and Felix Gibeault each threw a scoreless inning of relief.
Lewis & Clark jumped all over Whittier's starting pitcher as they scored six runs in the opening two innings.
In the first, Lewis & Clark loaded the bases with one out on a double, error and walk. Cavagnaro blasted a grand slam over the left-field fence to open up a 4-0 lead.
Davis made it 6-0 in the second, when his homer down the left-field fence scored Gavin Mangano in front of him.
Whittier chipped away at the deficit with one run in the second and two in the fifth to shave the Pioneers lead to 6-3.
Davis immediately responded, as he delivered his second, two-run homer of the game to make it 8-3 in the top of the sixth.
The Pioneers put the game away with their biggest inning of the weekend: a six-run eighth. Sandoval started the scoring with a two-out, two-run single. Heron and Cavagnaro (double) followed with RBI hits to make it 12-3. Sophomores Connor Broschard (pinch-hit) and Aikawa greeted the new reliever with RBI singles to push the lead to 14-3.
GAME TWO RECAP
Heron carried the offensive load with four homers and eight RBI to lead Lewis & Clark to the series victory.
The senior went 4-6 with four runs and eight RBI in the biggest game of his collegiate career. He had never posted a multi-homer game prior to Sunday and came in with seven career homers in his first three season. His four homers in game two tied his career-high for homers in a season – which he set as a junior.
Sandoval kicked off the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning. He finished the game 1-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and a walk. Davis chipped in three hits in five at-bats with a run scored and an RBI and Potter went 3-4. Gonzaga (two runs) and Aikawa each posted multi-hit games.
Senior Luke Ritter allowed seven hits and two earned runs across five innings to earn his first win of the year. Ritter struck out three and walked two.
First year Matt Stanislavsky made his collegiate debut on his birthday and scattered one hit over two scoreless innings. He also struck out two. Junior Natt Kerr went the final innings and gave up two runs (one earned) over two frames of work.
Just as they did all weekend, Lewis & Clark scored in the top of the first. Gonzaga opened the inning with a single, stole second and stood at third with one out. Sandoval launched a homer to center field to make it 2-0. Heron followed with his first homer of the day – a shot to left-center to make it 3-0.
The Pioneers pushed their lead to 4-0 in the top of the second, when Davis crushed a double to left-center to score sophomore Eli Steinhaus from first base.
Lewis & Clark made it 5-0 in the fifth when Heron hit his second homer of the game: a one-out big fly to straight-away center.
Whittier scratched across two runs in the fifth but Heron would push the lead back to five in the seventh. After a Sandoval leadoff walk, Heron hit another ball over the center-field fence to make it 7-2.
Heron hit his record-tying, fourth homer of the game in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Heron greeted reliever Coehn Nakasone with a grand slam to center to push the lead to 11-2.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In three games this weekend, Lewis & Clark hit .355 as a team with 43 hits, 28 runs, seven doubles and nine home runs in 27 innings. The Pioneers also went 9-10 on the basepaths and worked 12 walks.
- Davis (8-13), Heron (7-14) and Potter (5-10) all hit .500 or better while starting all three games.
- First years Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson and Evan Carrubba-Rice each made their collegiate debuts on Sunday and appeared in both games off the bench. Sophomores Toby Strawser, Evyn Lewis and Dylan Lee all made their season debuts on Sunday.
- The Pioneers three starting pitchers combined to limit Whittier to eight earned runs over 15.1 innings. Owen Eisen, Hodina and Ritter struck out a combined 10 batters and issues just three walks.
- Heron's 16 total bases in a game are tied for 13th all-time in Division III for a single-game.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will return home to host three games next weekend. The Pioneers will take on defending Northwest Conference Champions Willamette University on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader.