Logger baseball team has a strong weekend against Lewis and Clark, sweeping them in 3

Puget Sound baseball won both of their games against Lewis and Clark on Saturday, April 12. The sun was out and it was a perfect day for baseball.

The Loggers started their first game of the day behind the Pioneers. The Pioneers scored their first run in the top of the first inning. The next three innings went by swiftly with neither team scoring. Lewis and Clark got another score in the fourth inning. The game was beginning to look bleak when the Pioneers scored three more times in the top of the fifth, but this was just what the Loggers needed to get their game started.

Puget Sound scored four times in the fifth inning, narrowing in on the strong lead Lewis and Clark had established through the beginning of the game. After a series of singles, the Loggers had the bases loaded.

Sophomore Chris Zerio (Pleasanton, Calif.) stepped up to bat and hit a double. Senior Lucas Stone (Ashland, Ore.) and sophomore JB Eary  (Las Vegas, Nev.) ran home, getting two runs for the Loggers and establishing an energy that would carry throughout the rest of the day.

Senior Jeff Walton (Carmichael, Calif.) was next at bat and did not disappoint. He hit another double, which brought Zerio and junior Connor Savage (Bothell, Wash.) home. These two important plays put the Loggers on the board. The fifth inning ended 5-4.

Lewis and Clark improved their lead by one run in the sixth inning, but this would be the last of the game.

The Loggers came back strong in the seventh inning, adding three more runs to their score. Once again Walton, Savage and Zerio made important plays that got players on the bases. Sophomore Nathan Backes (Seattle, Wash.) hit an RBI that allowed Zerio to score. At the end of the seventh inning sophomore Nick Funyak (Billings, Mont.) hit a single down left field that brought Backes home for the last run of the game.

The Pioneers had two more innings to score. The seventh inning ended 7-6 in favor of the Loggers and neither team scored in the eighth. In the top of the ninth the Loggers just had to keep the Pioneers from scoring in order to secure the win.

Thanks to strong pitching by the Loggers and good fieldwork the Pioneers were unable to score and the first game ended with a victory for the Loggers.

The Loggers and the Pioneers faced off again at 3:15 that same afternoon. The second game got off to a slow start. Neither team hit the ball in the first inning and the game was 0-0 until the bottom of the third.

Puget Sound gained a comfortable lead in the third inning when they got four runs. The action- packed inning started with a double from sophomore Nickolas Alarcio (Honolulu, Hawaii), who advanced to third with the next hit. Zerio got a walk when he was up at bat and then quickly stole second. Walton hit a single that brought Alarcio in for the first run of the game.

Then Backes hit a single down right that advanced Walton to second and allowed Zerio to bring in another run for the Loggers. After more steals made by Backes and Walton the Loggers were in a great position for the last plays of the inning. Lewis and Clark pitcher John Trupin threw wild pitches that allowed Backes and Walton to score. The fast paced inning ended 4-0.

Lewis and Clark eventually scored in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings. But while the Loggers had powerhouse innings these innings saw only one or two runs. The Pioneers scored more consistently throughout both games, but the Loggers seem to find their rhythm in one or two innings per game.

The Loggers only scored in four of the 16 innings they were at bat between the two games; fortunately these innings were strong enough to bring them key victories over Lewis and Clark.

The seventh inning was another one of the Loggers’ strong innings. Stone and Savage made it to the bases after their turns at bat. They would soon score thanks to a hit from Walton and fielding errors by the Pioneers. The error in center field resulted in two runs for the Loggers and put Walton on second. Walton almost immediately stole third and then scored after an RBI from Backes. The last run of the day for the Loggers came when junior Bobby Hosmer (Tucson, Ariz.) hit an RBI that let sophomore Alex Sierra (Pasadena, Calif.) take home.

The Pioneers scored once more in the ninth inning, but the game ended with an 8-4 victory for Puget Sound. The two teams faced off one more time over the weekend when they played on April 13. Puget Sound won their third game of the weekend with an 11-3 finish.

Once again the majority of their runs came from two key innings. They scored four runs in the first inning and five in the sixth.

The Loggers ended the weekend in fifth place in conference with an 8-10 record for conference play.

They will be on the road this weekend but will return home the weekend of April 26 to face off against Willamette in their last home games of the season.