It didn’t take long for Logan DeCock to realize Friday was going to be a good night.

“After the second batter, when I struck him out on two (changeups) in a row,” he said. “I knew if I could keep that up then it would go well.”

Testing out a new grip on that changeup for the first time, DeCock hurled a two-hit shutout to boost the Kalispell Lakers AA to a 4-0 win over the Billings Scarlets in the first game of a doubleheader Friday night at Griffin Field.

The Scarlets came back to win the second game 6-3.

DeCock walked two and struck out three in his seven-inning whitewashing.

“That’s probably my best start all year,” he said. “The changeup was just working the whole game so that’s all we went with and it just worked.

“(The grip) wasn’t working, so I had to change something.”

“He had great command today,” Lakers coach Ryan Malmin said. “His arm action, with his changeup, was like his fastball. When he does that, that changeup’s incredibly deceptive and so that’s good to see that he was able to do that today.”

DeCock did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Lukas Funyak doubled to the wall in left. Jake McGovern, who had walked to lead off the inning, tried to score but was gunned down at the plate on a terrific relay throw from shortstop Jake Halland.

In the bottom of that inning, Andrew Schleusner led off with a home run to left, the Lakers tacked on two more runs on a Jayson Combs single and opened up their 4-0 advantage.

The second game, however, was a different story. With the Lakers facing a busy conference slate before the end of the regular season, Malmin was forced to get creative and use six different pitchers to get through seven innings. Typically starters, Leif Ericksen and Dawson Smith both pitched an inning on what ordinarily would have been their day to work in the bullpen between starts, and Tiler Whiteaker worked briefly in relief two days before he’s scheduled to start against Missoula.

Still, Kalispell had chances to win the finale. Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Joe Broughton doubled home Schleusner and reached third on an error with one out. On the next pitch, Broughton broke for home but Jayson Combs did not attempt to get a bunt down, and Broughton was retired in a rundown.

On inning later, Halland singled in Whiteaker to pull the Lakers within 4-3 with one out, but Halland made an ill-advised attempt to take second base and was thrown out, again stalling a potential rally.

“Clearly, there were some things we did in that game that cost us the opportunity to win,” Malmin said. “Now’s the time we need to make sure that we clean those things up and we play effortless ball where we don’t have to think about things, where we can come out and compete, and know what we’re doing, and that sort of stuff.”

Gordon Sveinson threw a complete game for the visitors to get the win in Game 2, and he launched a solo home run in the first inning to put the Scarlets in front. Sveinson and Ben Tallman each had two hits in the contest.

Broughton went 3 for 5 during the two games to lead the Kalispell offense. Schleusner had two hits in the opener and Whiteaker singled twice in the nightcap.

The Lakers will play seven games in the next eight days, all at home, to close out the regular season. Next up is Sunday when they host the Missoula Mavericks at 3 p.m. for a single nine-inning game.

Game 1

Billings 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

Kalispell 010 030 x — 4 6 1

Reese Queen, Greg Andriolo (5) and Lukas Funyak. Logan DeCock and Andrew Schleusner. W — DeCock. L — Queen.

BILLINGS — Riley Bruns 0-3, Caje Golden 0-3, Gordon Sveinson 0-2, Jake McGovern 1-2, Jake Tallman 0-2, Funyak 1-2, Jackson Cobb 0-2, Cole Kramer 0-2, Preston Schriver 0-2.

KALISPELL — Tiler Whiteaker 0-3, Micah Benson 0-2, Patrick O’Connell 0-3, Jake Halland 0-2, Leif Ericksen 1-2, Schleusner 2-3, Spencer Pisk 1-2, Joe Broughton 1-2, Jayson Combs 1-2.

2B — Funyak; Ericksen, Pisk, Broughton. HR — Schleusner. RBIs — Combs 2, Schleusner, Pisk.

Game 2

Billings 102 010 2 — 6 9 2

Kalispell 010 011 0 — 3 7 2

Gordon Sveinson and Ben Tallman. Micah Benson, Tiler Whiteaker (3), Leif Ericksen (4), Dawson Smith (5), Jonas Nyman (6), Andrew Schleusner (7) and Schleusner, Whiteaker (7).

BILLINGS — Riley Bruns 0-3, Jackson Cobb 1-4, Sveinson 2-4, Jake McGovern 1-3, Jake Tallman 1-4, Lukas Funyak 1-3, Caje Golden 1-3, Matt Larsen 0-2, Mac Spickard 0-1, B. Tallman 2-3.

KALISPELL — Whiteaker 2-3, Benson 0-2, Nyman 0-1, Patrick O’Connell 1-3, Jake Halland 1-3, Ericksen 0-2, Schleusner 0-2, Spencer Pisk 1-3, Joe Broughton 2-3, Jayson Combs 0-3.

2B — Golden; Broughton. HR — Sveinson. RBIs — Sveinson 2, McGovern, Funyak, Golden; Halland, Pisk, Broughton.