PORTLAND, Oregon – Collin Maier pitched a gem, Chris Zerio picked up five hits, and the Puget Sound baseball team committed just one error between both ends of a doubleheader split at Concordia (Ore.) on Friday afternoon.

Zerio upped his average to .500 on the young season, and is tied for the team lead with seven RBI. The Loggers (2-3) tightened up on defense after committing 13 errors in their first three games of the season. 

Game 1: Puget Sound 9, Concordia 0

Collin Maier tossed eight scoreless innings and stuck out six as Puget Sound picked up its first shutout win of the season. Nick Funyak (1-for-3, R, RBI) started a four-run second inning by reaching base after getting hit by a pitch, and Layne Croney (0-for-2) followed with a sac bunt. Troy Kakugawa's  (1-for-5, R) single put runners on the corners, and Kaulana Smith's (1-for-2, 2 R, RBI) RBI single plated Funyak to give Puget Sound a 1-0 lead. Cal Muramaru (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI) followed with a single to score Kakugawa. 

Connor Savage (1-for-4, R) reached base on a throwing error that allowed Smith to score, and Nickolas Alarcio's (1-for-2, R, 2 RBI) RBI single capped off the four-run rally.

The Loggers got three more runs in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI double by Muramaru, a squeeze bunt by Alarcio, and an RBI single by Zerio. Nathan Backes (1-for-4, RBI) and Funyak hit back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth inning to increase the Loggers' lead to 9-0.

Game 2: Puget Sound 6, Concordia 7

Puget Sound and Concordia exchanged one run apiece in the first inning, but the Loggers posted four runs in the second to take a 5-1 lead. The Loggers loaded the bases after singles by Johnny Hosmer (1-for-3, R) and Troy Kakugawa (1-for-4, R), and Cal Muramaru (0-for-3, R) reach on an error by the right fielder.

Connor Savage (2-for-4, 2 R, 3B, 3 RBI) cleared the bases with a triple to left-center, and Nickolas Alarcio's (2-for-4, RBI) groundout short allowed Savage to score.

Bobby Hosmer's (0-for-3, RBI) sac fly in the fifth increased the lead to 6-1, but Concordia rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning. The Cavaliers evened the score, 6-6, in the sixth inning, and they scored the go-ahead run with a one-out, RBI single in the eighth.

The Loggers remain in Oregon for the CCC-NWC Challenge hosted by Linfield on Saturday, Feb. 14. Puget Sound plays Corban at 12 p.m. and Linfield at 2 p.m.

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