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LEWISTON, Idaho (Feb. 17) -- Junior Joel Johnson (Olympia) was one of five Central Washington University baseball players with at least two hits on Sunday, but a nine-run eighth inning propelled Lewis-Clark State College to a 14-3 victory over the Wildcats in the championship game of the Guardian Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Tournament at Harris Field.

The Wildcats went 2-2 in the tournament and are now 4-8 overall. Lewis-Clark State, ranked eighth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), is now 7-1 on the year. CWU handed the Warriors their lone loss of the year during round-robin play on Friday.

CWU finished with 14 hits in Sunday's tournament title game, but were never able to piece together any big innings. The Wildcats stranded 11 runners in the contest, leaving at least one runner on base in all but the seventh inning, including the bases loaded in the fourth.

The Wildcats fell behind 5-0 to the Warriors, who scored single runs in the first and third before a three spot in the top of the fourth. CWU broke through and scored its first run on a RBI single by junior Eddie Malone (Queen Creek, Ariz.).

The game remained a 5-1 count until the top of the eighth when the Warriors, who batted as the visiting team by virtue of their number two seed after round-robin play, erupted for nine runs and nine hits. The big blow of the inning was a grand slam by Brian Corliss, while Bobby Joe Tannehill added a two-run home run three batters later.

CWU responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, scoring both tallies with two out. Senior Justin Peterson (Tacoma/Life Christian Academy) delivered a RBI double, and Johnson followed by scoring Peterson with a single to cap the game's scoring.

The two teams combined for 32 hits, with Lewis-Clark State owning an 18-14 edge in that department. In addition to Johnson's three hits, Malone, Peterson, and seniors Marc Garza (Othello) and Kyle Sani (Kennewick/Southridge HS) finished with two hits each.

Lewis-Clark State was led by a 4 for 6 outing from leadoff hitter Jake Shirley, while Corliss and Stephan Adams added three hits apiece. Cordell Greene scattered 10 hits and struck out six over seven innings to earn the pitching victory, while CWU starter Jeff Gonzales (Bellevue/Newport HS) took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season.

The Wildcats will take next weekend off before beginning Great Northwest Athletic Conference action with a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene University on Mar. 1-2. The home opener for CWU is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 5 when the Wildcats host Whitworth University.