PORTLAND, Oregon – Gabe Huante hit his first-career home run with the Maroon & White as the Puget Sound baseball team won the first game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader at Lewis & Clark, 7-2, Wednesday afternoon. The Pioneers won the second game, 16-3.
 
The doubleheader was a make-up from the previously scheduled Feb. 25-26 series. The third game of the series will be played April 5 in Portland.
 
After a scoreless first inning in Wednesday's first game, Huante belted a solo home run to center field. The Loggers clung to that 1-0 lead until they rallied for five runs in the fifth inning.
 
Drew Kamihara led off the fifth with a single, and he moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Cody Hirano reached base on an error, and Makana Murashige drew a walk to load the bases.
 
Nathan Blocher drove Kamihara home with an infield hit, and then Sean Murphy was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Runners each moved up one base with an RBI single by Jack McCullar, and Huante drove in two runs with a single through the left side.
 
Dylan Joyce – Puget Sound's all-time home run leader – blasted a solo home run in the eighth inning. It was his eighth homer of the season.
 
Davis Franklin served as the opener and allowed just one hit in two innings while striking out three. Brett Harvey tossed the next four innings. He kept the Pioneers off the scoreboard by allowing just one hit. Joyce got the save after throwing the final three innigns.
 
In the second game of the doubleheader, Joyce crushed a two-run homer in the first inning, - his 35^th career home run. Joshua Carrillo hit an RBI single in the fourth.
 
The Loggers return home to host Willamette for three games, March 18-19.