College Baseball: Lower Columbia stumbles against Linn-Benton at NWAC Tournament

Sad Story – Red Devils can't catch Roadrunners in 4-2 loss to defending champs

LCC pitcher Quinn Hubbs winds up for a delivery during a game against Linn-Benton in the NWAC Tournament, Friday, May 23, at Story Field. The Red Devils went on to lose 4-2. / Photo courtesy of Skyler Smith of Framed Photography

Sam Barbee for Blast Zone Media

NWAC Baseball

STORY FIELD — You always know how things go by how long they leave the scoreboard on.

Friday night, under the incandescent David Story Field lights, the scoreboard got turned off quickly. It was already off by the time a pair of Red Devil pitches appeared with a push boom and a couple of buckets to see to the artificial turf on the mound. Little sand and push it in, some rubber pellet dust to spread around.

But the home crowd filed out grumbling. Postgame tasks were completed solemnly. Lower Columbia head coach Kurt Lupinski has a rule: the Midnight Rule. You have until midnight to feel a type of way. Good or bad. But after midnight, it’s tomorrow.

The couple of hours until midnight certainly weren’t happy for the Red Devils after Linn-Benton beat LCC 4-2, sending the NWAC Tournament hosts to the loser’s bracket for the third straight season.

And to be fair, LCC won the whole tournament in one of those seasons. So all is not lost. Not yet.

“Good opportunity for us to practice the Midnight Rule,” Lupinski said. “Sometimes it’s good, you gotta turn the page, on to the next. And sometimes — today, it was bad. It’s not a true flush it scenario because you always need to learn from your failures but we’ve been really resilient. That’s what I’m most positive about.”

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