TACOMA, Wash. - Combining for 51 hits on the afternoon, the Puget Sound Loggers and Willamette Bearcats played to a doubleheader split in a Northwest Conference baseball twinbill on Saturday at Logger Field in Tacoma, Wash.  Willamette took the first game, 17-11, but the Loggers answered back with a 7-5 win in the nightcap.

In the first game, the Bearcats opened up the scoring with two runs on a home run by Mitchell Rowan in the top of the first.  The Loggers got a run on the board in the bottom of the inning as senior Mark Rockey (Mountlake Terrace, Wash./Univ. of New Mexico) singled to left to score Dakota Resnik (Bellevue, Wash./Newport).  Willamette made it 3-1 in the second as T.C. Lee scored on a wild pitch but a Resnik grand slam in the bottom of the inning put the Loggers up, 5-3.

The Bearcats tied it up in the third on a two-RBI double by Sky Kelley and then made it 7-5 in the fifth with a pair of unearned runs.  In the bottom of the fifth, Rockey hit his 16th home run of the field to dead center to tie the game up and the Loggers added three more before the inning was over as they held a 10-7 advantage.

A sacrifice fly by Doug Cox (Kailua, Hawaii/Kalaheo) in the sixth scored Rockey from third as the Loggers made it 11-7 but Willamette exploded for 10 runs in the top of the seventh to take a 17-11 lead and the advantage held for the remainder of the game as Willamette collected the conference win.

Joseph Pelletier collected the win for Willamette, allowing one run on two hits in four innings pitched.  James Lane (Silverdale, Wash./Avila Univ.) took the loss, allowing seven runs on four hits in two-thirds innings pitched.

Rockey had a solid first game, going three-of-five from the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored.  Sophomore Will Mentor (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) also went three-for-five, scoring twice.

In the second game, it was the Loggers who struck first, putting two on the board in the bottom of the first for the early lead.  Four more runs in the bottom of the third chased Willamette starter Jake Jones as Puget Sound held the 6-0 lead after three frames.  The Loggers got their final run in the sixth as Resnik hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Travis Hernandez (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison).  

Willamette picked up two runs in the seventh to get within five and then the Bearcats scratched out three more in the top of the ninth before junior Cameron Duvall (Lakewood, Wash./Lakes) came in to get the final out for his second save of the season.

Freshman Matt Robinson (Lafeyette, Calif./Campolindo) collected the win for UPS, improving to 8-2 on the year after allowing just two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings pitched.  Jones took the loss for Willamette, allowing six runs, just two earned, on six hits in two and two-thirds innings pitched.

Hernandez was three-for-three from the plate for the Loggers, adding an RBI and a run scored.  Rockey went two-for three in the second game while Casey Coberly (Boise, Idaho) picked up a pair of RBIs in the win.

The Loggers and Bearcats will wrap up the 2010 season on Sunday afternoon with the rubber game of their three-game series.  Prior to the game, the Loggers will honor 10 seniors who will be wearing the maroon and white for the final time.