There's a certain weight that comes with wearing the Lewis-Clark State uniform—and under the bright lights of the NAIA Baseball Opening Round, presented by Avista, the Warriors embraced it.

"Pressure," LC State coach Jeremiah Robbins said, "is an awesome part about being in this program. There's expectations."

Those expectations were tested early. When the Keiser Seahawks cut the LCSC lead to just one run in the fourth inning, the Warriors found themselves playing not to lose—a dangerous mindset in postseason baseball.

"You can never play not to lose," Robbins explained. "I basically told them, 'Quit looking at the scoreboard. We'll check it after nine.' This team gets really hyped up, and they are their own worst enemy. So they calmed down a little bit, and we came out and responded with a run."

And respond they did. The Warriors tacked on two crucial insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh off the bat of Jackson Reed, sealing a 7-3 victory over Keiser. Senior starter Evan Canfield delivered a serviceable outing, while reliever Jordan Lennartson locked things down with four dominant innings in front of a crowd of 580 at Harris Field in Lewiston.

The win propels top-seeded and No. 4 nationally ranked LC State into the semifinals, where they'll face third-seeded No. 21 Hope International at 6 p.m. today. The Royals punched their ticket with a 6-0 shutout over No. 13 Texas A&M Victoria in Monday's early game. Keiser now faces elimination opposite Texas A&M Victoria at 2:30 p.m.

What made the difference? Almost every time Keiser scored, the Warriors answered with a run—or three—of their own. It was a point of emphasis after some close, low-scoring conference tournament games where runners were left stranded.

"When you've got opportunities to score runs, you've got to find a way to get one out of that, or possibly two," Robbins said. "I tip my hat to our guys. They did that today."

Reed was the offensive spark, singling in the second to ignite a three-run inning and doubling down the right field line in the fourth—though he was stranded after three straight outs. A pop-up in the fifth left runners at second and third, but Reed refused to let another chance slip away in the seventh.

"My mindset, more than anything, was just to be in ultra attack mode and find something out in front of the plate again," Reed said. "I found myself catching it a little deep, which resulted in that pop-up the at bat before. So I just wanted to be the aggressor again. And it worked out perfect."

For a program built on tradition and high expectations, the Warriors showed they can handle the heat—and deliver when it matters most.