In the first truly good weather weekend we’ve had so far this spring, the Logger baseball team didn’t disapoint a large gathering of ‘fair weather fans.”
Displaying solid pitching and a flare for the dramatic, the team swept the Pacific Boxers to move into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Conference with one weekend left to go.
In game one, the Loggers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and rode an outstanding performance by sophomore pitcher Nate Aguiar (Los Gatos, Calif.) to hold off the Boxers in a 3-2 victory.
The Loggers used a combination of hits and walks to score three runs in the first inning. A single by senior Kainoa Correa (Hilo, Hawai’i) was sandwiched in between a pair of walks for senior Dakota Resnik (Bellevue, Wash.) and junior Matt Cox (Salem, Ore.). Freshman Jeff Walton (Carmichael, Calif.) singled to drive in Resnik before a bloop hit from senior Craig Driver drove in Correa and Cox to make the score 3-0.
Aguiar held Pacific without a hit from the second inning until he gave up two singles in the seventh. Junior Luke Englert (Seattle, Wash.) came in and closed the game for his second save.
In game two the Loggers again made the game dramatic, finding themselves down 5-3 entering the bottom half of the ninth inning. A flurry of timely hits allowed the team to rally for a 6-5 win that seemed to break the Boxer spirit.
Junior Andrew Grady (Cave Creek, Ariz.) and Resnik hit back-to-back singles and each advanced a base after a wild pitch. The Loggers loaded the bases after Walton was hit by a pitch. Junior Will Mentor (Seattle, Wash.) stepped into the box and delivered a a two-run single that scored Grady and Resnik.
After the Boxers intentionally walked a pinch hitter, senior Chaz Kramer (Boulder, Colo.) stepped to the plate with no intention of having the game go into extra innings. A grounder to second looked like a double play ball but the Boxer relay throw was off the mark to first base. As Kramer safely reached first, Walton scored the game winning run from third.
The win on the mound went to senior Cam Duvall (Lakewood, Wash.) after he stopped a rally in the eighth and allowed just one hit over the last 1.1 innings of the game.
The walk off win in the previous game demoralized the Boxers. It had the opposite affect on the Loggers as the team came out broom-in-hand, ready to complete the sweep.
A first inning double from Cox drove in the initial run and was nearly all the offense the Loggers needed in the game. His triple in the fifth added a third run to the board, more than enough for freshman Lucas Stone (Ashland, Ore.) who scattered six hits over five innings to pick up his second win of the year.
Junior Alex Baugh (Monroe, Wash.) worked middle relief, giving up just one unearned run in the eighth. Duvall, in his second appearance of the day, struck out two over the final 1.2 innings to secure the Logger win.
The Loggers will host their final non-conference game this Wednesday against Central Washington.
The team will travel to Willamette for a three game series this coming weekend.
A series win over Willamette all but guarantees a second place finish for the Loggers.
[PHOTO COURTESY / DAVID PENDLETON]