South Oregon News

Pios stun 'Cats twice to earn road sweep in McMinnville

 Linfield finished Sunday's doubleheader with a combined 19 hits but couldn't contain Lewis & Clark's powerful lineup as the Pioneers left Roy Helser Field with a series sweep.
 
Lewis & Clark staged a late comeback to take Game 2 of the three-game Northwest Conference series by a score of 9-5 in 12 innings. The Pioneers (19-7, 9-5 NWC) rode one big offensive inning to a 7-4 win in the finale to come into a tie for second place with Willamette.
 
GAME 2: Lewis & Clark 9, Linfield 5 (12 innings)
Casey Struckmeier tossed a six-inning gem but couldn't come away with his first collegiate win as a starting pitcher. The freshman allowed just one run on three hits while striking out four before exiting the game in the seventh inning.
 
The Wildcats took a comfortable 5-1 lead and were three outs away from tying the series at one game apiece. But the Pioneers had other ideas, scoring four runs to send the game into extra innings. After two scoreless frames, the Pios came through once again with another four-run inning in the 12th to complete the come-from-behind victory and erase a five-error defensive outing.
 
Linfield scored a run in the first inning and then broke the game open with four runs in the sixth. Branden Pasion, Jackson Horner and Garrett Moen all notched two hits. Horner and Moen registered RBI singles in the sixth inning. All five runs scored by the 'Cats were unearned.
 
Brennen Davis went 3 for 5 with three runs and an RBI single for the Pios. Jack Savant drove in the game-tying run in the ninth inning with a two-run single to center field. All-American Jack Thomson, the reigning NWC Player of the Year, smacked an RBI single to right to send the go-ahead run across the plate in the 12th inning.
 
GAME 3: Lewis & Clark 7, Linfield 4
Linfield trailed 2-0 halfway through the game. The 'Cats evened the score with a pair of runs in the fifth inning thanks to a solo home run by Nick Holm and an RBI double by Garret Ringer in the third start of his career. Holm's four homers on the season are tied for the team lead with Jake Hoskins.
 
Lewis & Clark's lucky No. 4 made another late appearance. The Pioneers broke the 2-2 tie with four runs in the seventh inning thanks to a two-out grand slam by Luke Bass, who finished 2 for 4 with five RBI. Jakob Ghammachi added another insurance run with a solo shot to left field in the eighth.

Hoskins ripped a two-run single to center in the seventh, but the damage was already done. His two RBI led the 'Cats while Ringer and Bodey Smith both collected two hits. Smith also scored twice.
 
Braden Thorn went 2 2/3 innings in his first start of the season. He struck out three batters and allowed two runs, but both were unearned. Brian Mannion tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Thorn while Nick Alder had three Ks on his way to picking up the final five outs.
 
NEXT
Linfield (9-15, 6-10 NWC) will take a much-needed break from its NWC schedule. The 'Cats head to Pullman, Washington, on Wednesday to take on Division I Washington State. They will return home to host NAIA College of Idaho in a three-game series over the weekend. 

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