Red Devils Cruise to 7-1 Win Over Tacoma to Reach Championship Monday

LONGVIEW, Wash. – The Lower Columbia Red Devils got out to an early lead and cruised to the 7-1 victory over Tacoma to advance to Championship Monday with an opportunity to win the title at the NWAC Baseball Championship.

With the win, the Red Devils make it three teams that will have a chance to win the NWAC title on Monday. Lower Columbia will face Lane in the first game of the day at 12:05 p.m. with the winner taking on Tacoma afterwards scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Tacoma earned the automatic trip to the championship game by being the final remaining undefeated team remaining in the tourney.

The Red Devils used a dominant co-pitching performance by Owen Luchies and Jase Schueller to take down the Titans. Luchies made the start as he allowed just one run over four innings. Schueller relieved him as he shutout TCC over the final five innings with five strikeouts.

The pitching staff got a comfortable lead in the middle innings as the Red Devil offense scored a run in the third, added three in the fourth and two more in the fifth for a 6-0 lead.

Justin Stransky led the offense with a home run in the fifth inning. Tyler Peterson set the table with a 1-for-2 day while drawing two walks. Royce Vandine went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Carson Hayes drove in a pair of runs.

Tacoma used a trio of pitchers with Mason Palagyi the most effective, allowing one unearned run in four innings pitched. Kamana Nahaku and Noah Fields led the TCC offense with two hits each.

Three teams will still have an opportunity to win the title on Monday, but Lower Columbia and Lane will each need to win back-to-back games while Tacoma will need to win just one.

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Contact: Iain Dexter; idexter@clark.edu