PORTLAND, Ore. – After forcing extra innings in the first
game, the Puget Sound Logger bats ran out of juice in the nightcap
as the Loggers dropped two to the Lewis & Clark Pioneers in a
Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday in Portland,
Ore. The Pios won 9-8 in the first game before collecting an
8-4 win in the second contest.
In the first game, the Loggers scored first as Matt Cox (Salem,
Ore./South Salem) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing
Dakota Resnik (Bellevue, Wash./Newport) to score from third.
L&C answered back with two runs in the bottom of the frame but
Casey Coberly (Boise, Idaho) singled home Will Mentor (Seattle,
Wash./Seattle Prep) in the top of the second to tie the game at
2-2.
The Pios took the lead again with a lone run in the bottom of
the second. Puget Sound tied it up again in the top of the
fourth as Jason Powell (Redwood City, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) hit
a leadoff home run down the left field line.
The Loggers took the lead in the eighth as Powell singled in Cox
from third but the Pioneers matched the Loggers run in the bottom
of the inning and scored one more to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth
inning.
In the top of the ninth, Resnik hit a one-out single up the
middle to score Coberly from second as Puget Sound forced an extra
frame. In the 10th, it looked like the Loggers might be on
their way to a win as Mentor singled to center to score Chaz Kramer
(Boulder, Colo./Silver Creek) and then Coberly doubled to left to
score Mentor. Resnik gave the Loggers their third run of the
frame, singling to score Coberly as the Loggers held an 8-5 lead
heading into the bottom of the 10th.
In the bottom of the inning, the Loggers were able to get two
outs but the Pios found their rally caps, scoring four runs to stun
the Loggers and take the 9-8 win. Coberly had a strong game
for the Loggers, going three-for-five with two runs and two RBIs.
In the nightcap, the Loggers scored early once again as Mark
Rockey (Mountlake Terrace, Wash./Univ. of New Mexico) singled to
left center to score Resnik from third. The Pios matched the
Loggers yet again in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice to
take a 2-1 lead. L&C added two more runs in the bottom of
the second to take a 4-1 lead.
The Loggers took advantage of struggles by the Pioneer pitchers
in the third inning, scoring three runs on just one hit to even the
game up at 4-4 but two runs by L&C in the fifth and two more in
the sixth put the Loggers up, 8-4, as the Pios picked up the
doubleheader sweep.
L&C junior Ryo Kawashima pitch six and two-third innings of
no-hit ball in relief to collect the win for the Pios. James
Lane (Silverdale, Wash./Avila University) took the loss, despite
recording six strikeouts in four innings pitched.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with
a single game at Huston Sports Complex in Portland, Ore.
