The Pacific University baseball team dropped a twinbill to Occidental, 11-3 and 15-6 on Friday in Forest Grove.
The Boxers (13-20) were led by
Derek Legeza, who had three hits in game one and two more in the nightcap. The hits in game one were a season-high for the freshman from Peoria, Ariz.
The Tigers (17-12) had 14 hits in game one and followed that up with 19 hits in the nightcap en route to the doubleheader sweep. Leadoff batter Jack Brancheau paced the attack in game one with four and in the nightcap, Bryan Smith had five hits to lead the lead the visitors.
Both teams used a large assortment of pitching in the non-conference doubleheader. The Boxers used four pitchers in game one and six in game two whereas the Tigers used four in game one and three in game two.
In both games, it was an early lead for the Tigers that got the visitors started.
In game one, they took an early 3-0 lead and the Boxers were playing catch up the entire contest. Pacific managed to cut the deficit to two, 5-3, before six unanswered runs in the final six innings proved to be the difference.
In addition to the three hits by Legeza,
Derek Ridgway also had three hits and a RBI in the contest. Pacific stranded nine runners on base in the loss.
In game two, the Tigers scored the final nine runs of the game in the final two innings after Pacific had rallied to tie the game at 6 in the bottom of the seventh.
Trailing 6-3, in the bottom of the seventh with one out, Legeza started the rally with a single to end the day for Occidental starter Nolan McCart. Next after back-to-back singles, the Boxers loaded the bases for Ridgway, who got the fourth-straight single bringing in Legeza to cut the deficit to two, 6-4. Next, with the bases reloaded,
Aaron Alexander came back from an 0-2 count to draw RBI walk to make it a 6-5 contest. The walk prompted the second pitching change of the inning for the Tigers.
Brandon Henderson greeted the new pitcher, singling to center field to score
Joey Galeno to tie the game.
The Tigers came back with two in the eighth and seven more in the ninth to rally for the 15-6 win.
With playing the doubleheader on Friday and the weather forecast on Saturday, the two coaches agreed in advance to move the series finale to Sunday at 12 noon at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.
