PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College baseball earned their first two Northwest Conference wins of the season on Saturday afternoon at Jerry Gatto Field, where it defeated visiting Linfield University.
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 7, Linfield 5
Lewis & Clark 3, Linfield 2
(Lewis & Clark 10-8-1, 2-3 NWC)
(Linfield 7-11, 2-5 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Lewis & Clark's offense was led by juniors Justin Cavagnaro, Will Heron and Brennen Davis, who all hit two-run home runs on Saturday. Freshmen Michael Aikawa and Bret Potter and sophomore Joaquin Sandoval contributed with an RBI each.
 
On the mound, sophomore Nate Kerr and freshman Owen Eisen both earned their second wins of the season. In game one, Kerr pitched three innings in relief and struck out a career-high five batters, with no hits and no runs. Eisen threw a career-high eight innings in game two, with five strikeouts. Senior Anthony Clerici recorded his 20th career save, and Davis notched his first save of the season.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
 
Senior Brett Pierson started on the mound for the Pioneers and quickly secured two outs at the beginning of the first and second innings. However, the Wildcats threatened with a hit and a walk both times. Pierson managed to avoid any runs by inducing a pair of grounders to Aikawa, leading to forced outs at third base and escaping with just two surrendered hits.
 
In the bottom of the second inning, Heron led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The senior moved up 90 feet on Potter's groundout and scored on Aikawa's at-bat on a throwing error by Linfield's third baseman.
 
Pierson retired the Wildcats in order in the third inning, but Linfield responded in the fourth, scoring two runs on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to center field to go up 2-1.
 
Jakob Ghammachi led off the bottom of the inning for Lewis & Clark. He reached first on a shortstop error, and the senior then advanced to second as the throw went into the Linfield dugout. Ghammachi advanced to third on a fly out by Heron to right field, then scored on Potter's second ground out of the game.
 
Aikawa stepped to the plate and singled up the middle to keep the Pioneer rally alive. With two outs, Cavagnaro hit his first home run of the year over the left-center fence and put Lewis & Clark up 4-2 after four innings.
 
Pierson faced the first two Wildcats in the fifth, giving up a single and walking the second batter. Kerr came in to replace Pierson and struck out the first batter he faced. Linfield scored two runs on a fielder's choice before Kerr induced a ground out to first for the final out of the inning.
 
The Pioneers retook the lead in the bottom of the inning on Linfield's third baseman's second throwing error of the game.  
 
Kerr struck out four Wildcats, walked two, and hit a batter in the sixth and seventh innings but allowed no hits and no runs.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Davis was hit by a pitch with one out. After recording their second out of the inning, Linfield made a pitching change. With a new pitcher on the mound, Heron sent the ball to left-center for his second home run of the year, adding insurance runs to the Pioneers' scoreboard and giving them a 7-4 lead.
 
Linfield responded in the top of the eighth with a lead-off home run by Jake Hoskins off senior reliever Tyler Shimabukuro. Shimabukuro then retired three of the Wildcats' next four batters.
 
Clerici earned his third save of the season and 20^th career save with a strikeout, no hits, and no runs.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
 
Eisen retired nine of the first eleven batters he faced in game two, including six in a row in the second and third innings, with four strikeouts.
 
Linfield scored the first runs in the second game with a two-run home run by Nick Holm in the fourth inning, going up 2-0.
 
Lewis & Clark responded in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, sophomore Brandon Gonzaga singled up the middle for his second hit of the game and the Pioneers' first since the first inning. Davis, making his first start since February 24, then stepped to the plate and hit his sixth home run of the season and first since February 22 just inside the left foul pole to tie the game.
 
An inning later, Aikawa started another two-out rally with a single to left center. The freshman advanced to second on a balk and third on a wild pitch. Sandoval then hit his first career triple, which sailed all the way to the center field fence to score the go-ahead run.    
 
Davis moved to the mound in the ninth inning to close out the game for Lewis & Clark. The righty retired Wildcats in order with a ground out and back-to-back strikeouts. Davis became the first Pioneer to hit a home run and earn a save in the same game since February 29, 2020, when Sammy Benbow completed the same feat in a 5-3 win over Willamette.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Eisen's eight innings were the most by a freshman pitcher in a game since Nick Kennison pitched 8.2 innings in a 5-1 loss to Whitworth on March 30, 2018. 
• Davis made his first start in 29 days, recorded his first RBI in 30 days, and hit his first home run in 31 days.
• Lewis & Clark is on a season-high five-game winning streak and is 8-6 heading into Sunday's final game of its 15-game homestand.
• Clerici is ranked third in all of Division III among active players with his 20 career saves. Willamette University's Bradley Joyner is second with 23 saves.

WHO'S NEXT
 
The Pioneers will look for the series sweep over Linfield on Sunday at Jerry Gatto Field. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.