Pitching Is Again Key As Boxers Play To Win & Tie
Game 1 Box Score |
Game 2 Box Score
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Pitching once again proved to be the key factor as Pacific and Menlo played to a victory and a rare tie in baseball action at St. Francis High School.
Hurler
Jason Sawyer (Fr., Scappoose, Ore.) allowed just two runs over seven innings while the Boxers (14-8-1) came together for two runs in the eighth to secure a 3-2 win. Menlo (15-11-1) got to Pacific's pitching in the nightcap, putting up a pair of four-run innings to force extra innings. The game ended in a 9-9 tie after 11 innings to allow Pacific to get to the airport for their flight home.
The tie game was the first for Pacific since the 1965 season, Chuck Bafaro's second season as coach. It is also the first tie for a Northwest Conference school since Pacific Lutheran played to two deadlocks during the 2008 season.
The Oaks did not get their two runs against Sawyer until after the Boxers had scored all that they needed to win the opener. After advancing just two runners to second base against starter Adam Koontz over the first six innings, the Boxers scored one in the seventh with two outs when
Sam Kaplan (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah) walked and then scored on a long single by
Travis Koon (Fr., Salem, Ore.).
Jared Van Hoon (Jr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) made it 2-0 in the eighth when he scored on
Trux French's (So., Kennewick, Wash.) single to left. French scored the winning run on a double to center field by
Nate Rasmussen (Jr., Sandy, Utah). Menlo took back two runs in the eighth on Chris Mazza's single to right field.
Dan Wolfe (Sr., Warrenton, Ore.) came on after the single to secure his fourth save of the season.
Sawyer improved to 3-2 on the year by allowing the two runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Koontz took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits with seven walks and eight strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Five different Pacific players had a hit apiece while Mazza and Collin Forgey went 2 for 4 for the Oaks.
Pacific jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings in the nightcap.
Mike Nagamine (Jr., Aiwa, Hawaii) scored three in the first inning with his home run to left field. He then added two runs in the second when his opposite field single plated
Kevin Schwartz (Jr., Milwaukie, Ore.) and
Michael Arakaki (So., Mililani, Hawaii).
Menlo hung four on the board in the second on a RBI single by Michael Brandi, a two-run double down the right field line by C.J. Dailey and a sacrifice fly. The Boxers came back to score two in the fourth on a Van Hoon single that scored Schwartz and a
Justin Liu (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) single that plated Van Hoon. The two teams traded runs in the sixth before the Boxers added one in the eighth when Nagamine doubled home Van Hoon.
After holding off another potential big inning by the Boxers in the top of the ninth, the Oaks got back into the game with four in the home half of the frame. James Threw scored two when his double brought home Brandi and Will Pierce. Threw then scored on a bases loaded walk before Forgey tied it when his sacrifice fly scored Ty Finley. Rasmussen came on to retire get the third out before holding the Oaks without a hit in the 10th and 11th.
Nagamine finished a triple short of the cycle to lead the Boxers. He went 4 for 5 with a double, a home run, one run scored and six runs batted in. Schwartz also went 4 for 5. Mazza went 2 for 4 to lead Menlo. Pacific starting pitcher
Chad Fahey (Jr., Keizer, Ore.) allowed five runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts while Menlo's Kyer Vega allowed seven runs on 11 hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 3.2 innings.
Pacific returns to Northwest Conference action this weekend, hosting Willamette for a three-game series. Start time for Saturday's doubleheader is 12 noon.
