LOS ANGELES, California – Puget Sound pitcher Merle Rowan-Kennedy set a new personal best for strikeouts in a game, and Chris Zerio and Ryan Moyes both homered, but the Puget Sound baseball team lost two games in southern California on Sunday.

Puget Sound 2, No. 17 Occidental 6

Logger starting pitcher Merle Rowan-Kennedy posted eight strikeouts, and Nathan Backes finished with three hits, but the Loggers dropped the series finale against Occidental, 6-2.

Rowan-Kennedy worked 6.0 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. Backes went 3-for-4 for his third game this season with three or more hits.

The Tigers claimed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and they doubled up on the advantage with two more runs in the fourth. The Loggers finally got on the board in the fifth inning. Nickolas Alarcio and Ben Jones led off with consecutive walks, and Backes followed with a single to load the bases.

Ryan Moyes struck out in the next at-bat, but a defensive miscue on the play allowed Alarcio to sprint home. The Loggers got their other run in the ninth inning when Jordan Hirae's sac fly scored Jones.

Puget Sound 6, Redlands 7

Chris Zerio hit his third home run of the season, and Ryan Moyes cleared the fences for the first time in 2016, but the Loggers lost to the Bulldogs, 7-6.

Puget Sound held a 6-1 lead through 4.5 innings thanks to two runs in each the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Nickolas Alarcio drew a one-out walk and Zerio followed with a home run to right field, giving the Loggers a 2-1 edge in the third. Jack Gries singled in the fourth and came around to score on Moyes' homer to left-center.

Matt Shelhamer smacked an RBI double in the fifth and Alex Sierra followed with an RBI single to give Puget Sound a five-run lead. The Bulldogs answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, and they walked off with a victory following two runs in the ninth.

The Loggers conclude the 2016 season with three games at No. 10 Whitworth, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23, at 12 p.m.

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