SALEM, Ore. - With over 50 hits combined to conclude what has
been a wildly offensive series, the Puget Sound Loggers and
Willamette Bearcats split a Northwest Conference baseball
doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in Salem, Ore. The Loggers took
the opener by a final of 8-4 while the Bearcats took the nightcap,
21-10.
In the first game, the Loggers struck first when David Thirlby
(Seattle, Wash./O'Dea) hit a three-run home run to left field to
give Puget Sound the early 3-0 lead. Willamette answered back with
a home run of their own in the bottom of the second when Jack McGee
got under a pitch and sent it over the center field pitch for a
solo dinger.
The Loggers scored two more in the fourth inning when Travis
Hernandez (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison) hit a RBI single to
score both Thirlby and Andrew Grady (Cave Creek, Ariz./Phoenix
Country Day) as the Loggers took the 5-1 lead. After one more
Bearcat run in the fifth, Dakota Resnik (Bellevue, Wash./Newport)
singled in the sixth to score Grady and Thirlby. Will Mentor
(Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) then drew a bases-load walk to score
Resnik and push the UPS lead to 8-2.
The Bearcats would go on to score two more runs but it wasn't
enough to prevent Puget Sound from collecting the 8-4 victory.
Cameron Duvall (Lakewood, Wash./Lakes) allowed four runs on nine
hits with four strikeouts in seven innings pitched to collect the
complete game victory. Devin Grindy was handed the loss for
Willamette, allowing eight runs on eight hits in five and one-third
innings pitched.
In the second game, the Loggers struck early when Mark Rockey
(Mountlake Terrace, Wash./New Mexico) hit a two-run home run to
left field to score Resnik as well as give UPS the early 2-0 lead.
The advantage didn't last long as Willamette exploded for six runs
in the bottom of the inning and the Loggers would be playing
catch-up the rest of the way. Rockey hit another dinger in the
third inning for two of four runs the Loggers would score in the
frame but Willamette would strike for six yet again in the bottom
half of the inning to pull ahead 13-6.
In the top of the fourth, Rockey sent yet another ball out of
the ballpark, this time a solo shot to open up a three-run Logger
inning but the Bearcats didn't take their foot off the gas the rest
of the game, scoring six more times in the sixth inning to collect
the wild 21-10 win.
Blake Paisley collected the win for Willamette, allowing nine
runs on 11 hits in four innings pitched. Spencer Crace
(Wilsonville, Ore.) took the loss, allowing six runs on six hits in
two-thirds innings pitched.
The Loggers return home next week as they play host to
NWC-leader George Fox for a four-game series beginning on Saturday
on Logger Field in Tacoma, Wash.
Box Scores: Game
One/Game
Two
