Logger baseball walked away with a win in their three-game series against Whitman. The Puget Sound baseball team played three games against Whitman College at home on March 28-29 and finished with a series victory when the Loggers won two of the three games.
Both winning games were ended by walk-off home runs, the first hit by sophomore Troy Kakugawa (Mililani, Hawaii) and the second by junior Nathan Backes (Seattle, Wash.).
The doubleheader set against Whitman on Saturday earned Puget Sound their two wins for the weekend. The game started in favor of Puget Sound when an RBI double by senior Bobby Hosmer (Tucson, Ariz.) allowed Backes to get a run earning the Loggers a point.
By the top of the eighth inning Whitman had a 3-2 lead over Puget Sound, but the Loggers were able to catch up when two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning pulled Puget Sound in the lead and won them the game.
With the final out of the game looming over their heads, two Logger baseball players were able to secure hits that brought the team to victory. Junior Nick Funyak (Billings, Mont.) and Kakugawa, who were both hitless in their earlier times at bat, each managed to hit a run bringing the Loggers into the lead and causing Kakuhawa’s walk off to end the game. The runs brought the final score to 4-3 in favor of Puget Sound.
The second game of the series went into extra innings, and wasn’t completed until a single walk-off run by Backes ended the game in the 12th inning.
Puget Sound began the game with a strong two-run lead over Whitman in the first inning. A bat by junior Chris Zerio (Pleasanton, Calif.) allowed junior Nickolas Alarcio (Honolulu, Hawaii) to complete a run.
In the same inning, a defensive error by Whitman gave Backes a chance to score a second run bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the Loggers. A home run by Backes in the fourth inning gave the Loggers an even wider lead over Whitman.
However by the end of the seventh inning, Whitman tied the game 3-3. An absence of runs by both teams sent the game into extra innings.
In the 12th inning, Backes hit his second homerun of the game, bringing the final score to 4-3 and ending the extra innings with a Logger victory. The hit was also Backes’ second game-ending walk-off homerun of the Whitman series.
Game three of the series began with a rough start for the Loggers. In the top of the second inning Whitman had an eight-run streak that the Loggers just couldn’t catch up to.
Throughout the rest of the game, runs by first year Cal Muramaru (Honolulu, Hawaii), senior Connor Savage (Bothell, Wash.), Hosmer, Zerio and Funyak in the remaining innings narrowed the gap between Puget Sound and Whitman, but weren’t enough for the Loggers to pull a win.
The third and final game of the series finished 8-5 in favor of Whitman.
The weekend series ended with two wins for Puget Sound and one win for Whitman.
The Puget Sound baseball team is 10-6 on their conference season and currently ranked fourth in the Northwest Conference.
Next, the Logger baseball team will take on George Fox in a three-game series at home on April 3 and 4.
