HILLSBORO, Ore. —
Kurtis Kloke hit two home runs, had six hits and drove in nine runs during a two-day doubleheader to help lead Pacific to a sweep of Lewis & Clark in Saturday/Sunday baseball action at Ron Tonkin Field, 11-6 and 12-1.
For the Boxers, who also won 10-1 over the Pioneers on Saturday night, they improved to 11-9 overall and to 7-5 in the Northwest Conference with the three-game sweep. Lewis & Clark falls to 8-12 on the year and to 3-6 in conference play. Half of game two of the series was played on Saturday night before heavy rains moved the rest of the contest to Sunday.
Kloke hit a three-run home run in the first game, hammered a triple off the wall in the second game and added a grand slam blast deep over the left field fence in the night cap. In the two games, he went 6-for-8. He only needed a double in the third game of the series to complete the cycle. He also beat out an infield single, and stole a base.
In Sunday night's second game, Kloke tripled home a run in the first inning and then cleared the bases with his grand slam in the third. He singled and scored in the fifth to give the hosts a 7-0 lead. Meanwhile,
Kyler Knieriem was throwing a gem on the mound for the Boxers. He pitched six innings of shut out ball, allowing only four hits. The right-hander walked four and fanned four batters. He improved to 6-1 on the season with the win.
Walker Olis had two hits, two runs scored, two walks and a stolen base in the late Sunday game.
Kane Ulrich had three hits and a walk.
In the Saturday-Sunday game,
Sam Lawrence pitched 5.2 innings of one-hit baseball before the rains came on Saturday night. Lawrence walked only two batters and struck out five to improve to 2-1 on the season.
He had plenty of support from his offense. Kloke hit his three-run homer during a five-run third inning.
Ben Duerr's two-run single in the fifth stanza was a key part of a three-run inning. Beginning with their third inning outburst, Pacific scored in every inning except the sixth.
The Pioneers didn't score until the eighth inning, when they pushed across all six of their runs off of Boxer relief pitching. L&C used three singles, four walks and a Boxer error to make the attempted comeback. They also loaded the bases in the ninth inning but couldn't get any more runners to touch home.
Kloke had three hits and four RBI to lead the Boxer offense. Shortstop
Charlie Dietrich walked three times, scored twice and drove in a run.
Counting his 2-for-4 performance in the series opener earlier on Saturday, Kloke went 8-for-12 against the Pioneers with 11 RBI.
The Boxers will travel to McMinnville next weekend (March 19-20) for a three-game set with the No. 25 nationally ranked Linfield Wildcats. Start time for Saturday's doubleheader is noon.
