SALEM, Ore. — Host Willamette broke open a 3-3 tie with a five-run outburst in the sixth inning and rolled to a 9-4 baseball win over Pacific on Senior Day at John Lewis Field.

The game wrapped up the 2016 season for both teams. The Bearcats inched over .500 with the victory, finishing the year at 20-19. The Boxers will put a record of 25-18 in the books, which is the most wins for the Pacific program since 2002 (25-13), and is the best record percentage wise since 2012 when PU was 22-15.

While it was Senior Day for the Bearcats, it was also the final collegiate game for nine Pacific seniors. One of them, Nathan Suyematsu got the start on the mound and didn't give up a hit through the first three innings of play. He got into his first bit of trouble in the fourth when a walk, a pair of base hits and two wild pitches pushed across two Bearcat runs.

The Boxers had scored a run a half inning earlier when Walker Olis singled and Kurtis Kloke doubled him to third. Tanner Mansell brought Olis home with a sacrifice fly, which would turn out to be the first of three RBI on the day for the senior designated hitter.

The Bearcats put two unearned runs on the board in the fifth to make it a 3-1 Willamette lead, but Pacific tied it in the sixth when Kloke singled and Mansell brought him home with a round-tripper to make it 3-3. For the senior Mansell, it was his first home run of the season.

But things came undone for Suyematsu and the Boxers in the fifth. Five hits, five runs and a Boxer error put a lot of distance between the two clubs (8-3). Pacific would add an unearned run in the seventh, but Willamette countered with an insurance plate crossing of their own in the eighth.

Kloke and Charlie Dietrich led the Boxers with two hits apiece. Brandon Nelson got the win for Willamette (4-5) while Jackson Watt recorded the save, his seventh of the season. Shea Harrison led the Bearcats at the plate with three hits and three RBI.

In addition to Suyematsu, Olis and Mansell, it was also the final college game for Ryan Sohn, Justin Strayer, Mike Thomsen, J.T. Francies and Taren Bradd. Two other seniors did not play today — pitcher Nate Montgomery (threw yesterday) and Ben Duerr (injured).