GAME
ONE
GAME
TWO
McMINNVILLE, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark
baseball team dropped its Northwest Conference double-header
against the Linfield Wildcats at Roy Helser Field on Saturday
afternoon. The Wildcats earned a dominating 16-1 win in the first
game, before squeezing out a 10-8 win in the nightcap.
The Pioneers are now 9-15 on the season and 6-11 in NWC action.
The Wildcats improve to 21-8 overall and 13-4 in conference play.
In game one, nothing seemed to go right for the Pioneers, who
collected 11 hits in the game, but stranded 12 base runners. The
Pioneers lone run of the game came in the top of the eighth inning
on a Parker Dane double to right center that sent freshman Eliot
Smith home. Smith had entered the game as a pinch hitter for junior
Nate Grisham, leading off the inning with a single to center.
The Wildcats picked up a chunk of their runs from Rhett Fenton,
who hit three home runs in the contest for six of the teams 16
runs. Linfield already had a 13-0 lead before the Pioneers scored
their run. Up by 12 runs, the Wildcats scored three more in the
bottom of the eighth.
Juniors Tucker Laurence, Roland Greene and Guiseppe Baffaro all
ended the first game with two hits.
Game two began with the Wildcats scoring one in the bottom of
the second inning, but the Pioneers bounced back to take a 3-1
advantage in the top of the third. Baffaro knocked in the first run
of the inning, with a single to center that brought in freshman
Zach Perez. Dane picked up the other two runs of the inning with a
home run to center field, bringing in Michael Ball as well.
The Pioneers added another run in the top of the next inning,
with a solo home run from senior Jim Bray. Down 4-1, the Wildcats
earned one run back in their half of the inning to make the score
4-2.
Grisham and the Pioneers responded in the top of the fifth
inning scoring two runs on three hits. Grisham picked up an RBI on
a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Ball to score. Smith came
around to plate the second run of the inning on a single by junior
Sam Holman. Holman's single to left field helped put the Pioneers
up 6-2.
Linfield pulled within one run in the bottom half of the fifth,
scoring three off of two Wildcat home runs. The Pioneers added one
more run to their lead in the top of the sixth inning, for a 7-5
advantage, with Baffaro scoring on a Dane single that made its way
up the middle of the infield.
The Wildcats would recapture the lead in the bottom of the sixth
inning, scoring three more runs to take a one run, 8-7, lead.
Holman would pick up another RBI in the top of the eighth inning,
helping score the tying run with a single to center field. Smith
came around to score for the Pioneers on the Holman hit, tying the
contest at 8-8.
Another Wildcat home run in the bottom of the eighth inning
would swing things back in Linfield's favor, putting them up 10-8.
The Pioneers would try to earn the runs back in the ninth inning,
but would not be able to sneak anything past the Wildcat defense.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon for the third
game of the NWC series.
