PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College baseball posted their third shutout of the season in game two and nearly mounted a huge comeback in game one, to earn a split with visiting Linfield University on Saturday at Jerry Gatto Field. 
 
THE BASICS
 
Linfield 12, Lewis & Clark 10 
Lewis & Clark 8, Linfield 0
(Lewis & Clark 20-18, Northwest Conference 11-12) 
(Linfield 23-16, NWC 12-11) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers reached the 20-win milestone for the third time in four years with their game two victory. Despite the win, the Pioneers were eliminated from playoff contention. Linfield (12-11), Whitman College (12-11) and Willamette University (11-11) all are still vying for the fourth and final NWC Tournament Playoff Spot.
 
Sophomores Owen Eisen and Shane Buchbinder and junior Nate Kerr combined for a three-hitter in game two. Eisen allowed two hits and two walks and struck out seven over six scoreless innings to outduel reigning NWC Rookie of the Year Jake Swenson. The Pioneers struck out at least 11 batters in both games and finished the day with 23 strikeouts. 
 
Brandon Gonzaga, Michael Aikawa and Will Heron led the Pioneers offensively on Saturday. Gonzaga went 4-11 with five runs scored and three RBI. Aikawa finished the day 3-9 with two runs, five RBI and two doubles. Heron chipped in four hits in eight at-bats, two runs, two RBI and a solo home run. 

GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 12-5. They sent 11 batters to the plate and put the go-ahead run on first base, before the Wildcats finally recorded the final out of the contest. 
 
Aikawa went 2-5 with two runs, three RBI and a double in the contest. Heron added three singles, a run and an RBI in four trips to the plate. Gonzaga scored four runs and tacked on two hits. 
 
Sophomore Caden Hodina battled through 4.2 innings. He tied his career-high with seven strikeouts and allowed six hits, six walks and seven runs. First years Dillon Foster (2.1) and Matt Stanislavsky (2.0) combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings. Both relievers allowed a multi-run homer. 
 
Linfield senior Caden Oram went seven innings and allowed five runs (two earned) to move to 4-3 on the season. 
 
Linfield took a 5-1 lead after two innings thanks to five runs with two outs. Luke Porter hit a two-run homer in the first to make it 3-0 and Trent Wainfeld and Nick Holm each added RBI hits in the second. 
 
The Pioneers got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Gonzaga led off the first with a liner that was dropped by the shortstop. He stole second with two down and raced home on a Heron RBI single. 
 
Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 5-4 in the third inning. Gonzaga kicked off the frame with a single to left and raced home on a Joaquin Sandoval triple off the wall in right field. Aikawa made it 5-3 with an RBI single to center. Heron and Justin Cavagnaro followed with singles to load the bases and Aikawa scored on a passed ball with two outs. 
 
The visitors scored two runs in the fifth inning with two outs to extend their advantage to 7-4. Lewis & Clark struck for a run of their own in the seventh. Gonzaga reached on a fielding error and raced home on an Aikawa double into the left-field corner. 
 
Linfield tacked on three more runs in the eighth on a three-run homer from Josh Mansur. 
 
The Pioneers wouldn't go down without a fight. Eli Steinhaus led off the bottom of the ninth with a hit by pitch. Gonzaga followed with a single and Sandoval was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Aikawa plated the first run with a fielder's choice to score Steinhaus. After a Heron walk loaded the bases once again, the Wildcats turned the ball over to their closer. Cavagnaro greeted Colton Ouellette with an RBI single to left field and Davis followed with a two-run single to right to make it 12-9. Will Michelman loaded the bases for a third time in the inning with a walk and Bret Potter shaved the deficit to 12-10 with a sac fly. Steinhaus singled to center field to load the bases for the fourth time in the inning. Ouelette finally snuffed out the rally with a ground out back to the mound. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Eisen, Buchbinder and Kerr combined for a three-hit shutout and Lewis & Clark racked up five earned runs against Linfield's ace. 
 
Eisen allowed a single, a double and two walks over six innings in his second six-inning shutout performance of the season. He improved to 4-4 with the win. 
 
Buchbinder pitched a scoreless seventh and scattered a hit, a walk and struck out two. Kerr came on for the final two innings. He allowed one walk and struck out two. 
 
Swenson allowed five earned runs for just the second time this season. The sophomore gave up six hits, four walks and five earned runs. He came into the game averaging 12 strikeouts per nine innings but only posted four punchouts in six innings. 
 
Gonzaga and Potter paced the Pioneers offensively in game two. Gonzaga posted two hits, one run, three RBI and two stolen bases. Potter chipped in three hits, two runs scored, a double and  an RBI. Davis walked three times and scored twice and Aikawa notched a double and two RBI. 
 
Lewis & Clark opened the scoring in the second inning. Heron blasted a home run over the tall fence in right-field for his 14^th home run of the season. 
 
The Pioneers pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Potter started the frame with a single and took second on a Steinhaus sac bunt. Gonzaga pushed the lead to 2-0 with a single up the middle. Sandoval worked a walk to put runners at first and third and he moved up to second on a wild pitch. Aikawa came through with a two-run double to right field to make it 4-0.
 
The hosts tacked on another run in the sixth. Davis led off with the frame with a walk and took second on a Michelman sac bunt. After a Potter single put runners on the corners, Steinhaus executed a perfect squeeze bunt to plate Davis. 
 
Lewis & Clark closed out the scoring in the eighth. With one out, Davis walked and Michelman followed with a single to right-center. Potter made it 5-0 with an RBI double down the right-field line and Gonzaga pushed two more runs across with a two-out, two-run single. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The Pioneers have posted 20 wins or more in three of the past four years (88-71-1). It's the first time the baseball program has accomplished that feat since they went 69-42-2 from 1986-88. 
• Heron moved into the top-10 in program history for runs batted in during a single-season in game two. His 41 RBI this year are tied for eight all-time. He also sits tied for third in a single-season for home runs (14) with assistant coach Jack Thomson ('23) who hit 14 in the 2022 season. 
• The Pioneers struck out a season-high 12 batters in game one against Linfield. It's the most strikeouts by Lewis & Clark in a single-game since March 15, 2024. Lewis & Clark struck out 15 batters against the Brewers in a 12-1 win.  
• Aikawa is tied for seventh for doubles in a single campaign with 14. He also is in a tie for 13^th for hits in a single-season (53). 
• Gonzaga is fourth all-time for stolen bases in a season with 23. He sits second in the NWC this year behind only Willamette's Nate Hamburger (24). 
• The Pioneers lead the Northwest Conference in shutouts this season. All three of their shutouts have come in NWC play (Whitman, Puget Sound and Linfield). The team had not thrown a shutout since 2021 prior to this season. 
• With their game two win, the Pioneers are guaranteed to finish above .500 for the third time in four years and finish above .500 at home (9-7) for the second-straight year at Jerry Gatto Field.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will conclude their 2025 season on Sunday at Noon when they host Linfield in their season finale. Lewis & Clark will honor their six seniors beginning at 11:40 a.m.