SALEM, Ore.- The Pacific University baseball team dropped their first Northwest Conference series against the Willamette Bearcats despite a convincing Sunday victory that rallied 13 hits to earn the 10-1 win.
Top Performers
CJ Colyer blasted three home runs on the weekend, with a batting average of .400.
The Boxers tallied eight home runs on the weekend placing them third in all of Division III in home runs. Isaac Lovings, Andrew Thomas, JP Lyssenko, and Matt Gibbs each contributed to the total.
Will Clark put together a brilliant outing to earn his second win of the season. Clark threw seven scoreless innings, producing eight strikeouts and surrendering only one hit in game three.
Game 1
Willamette struck first by capitalizing on a solo home run in the bottom half of the second.
A pair of home runs would put the Boxers on the board in the top half of the third. Lovings would start it off with a three-run homer followed by a solo shot to center field from Matt Gibbs to take the 4-1 lead.
The Bearcats would quickly respond in the third by pushing three runs across in the bottom half of the inning to tie up the ball game 4-4.
CJ Colyer and Isaac Lovings would hit another pair of back-to-back bombs to help the Boxers regain the lead 8-4.
Willamette would capture the lead in the bottom of the sixth and take game one, 11-9.
Game 2
The Bearcats would start off the scoring in game two with two home runs in the first and third inning to take the lead 4-0.
The Boxers would cut the Bearcats lead in half in the top half of the fourth after Lovings and Thomas scored on a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch.
Tyler Quinn would step up to the plate in the top half of the sixth plating Joey Harmon to cut the deficit to one, 3-4.
Ayden Ruminski pitched three strong innings of relief, only allowing one hit and one run in the bottom half of the seventh before handing the ball to Joey Harmon in the eighth.
Willamette would continue to advance their lead in the eighth inning adding five runs off of four singles.
The Boxers would score a run off a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to mount a comeback. The Bearcats would win game two 9-4.
Game 3
The two teams would go scoreless for the first four frames in what would prove to be a pitcher's duel, allowing a total of only four hits.
JP Lyssenko would get things rolling in game three with a solo shot in the top of the fifth. The Boxers would put another three runs on the board when CJ Colyer blasted a three-run homer plating Ty Yukumoto and Tyler Quinn to take the 4-0 lead.
In the top half of the sixth, the Boxers bats would continue to remain hot, stringing together a couple of hits before bringing Tokishi up to the plate who singled up the middle driving in Lyssenko and Matthews.
Will Clark would produce a quick end to the sixth inning by collecting three consecutive strikeouts to keep the Bearcats bats quiet and scoreless.
Pacific's offense was not done with the long ball yet, as the seventh inning would continue to show the strength of the Boxer's offense, which was highlighted by Colyers second homer of the day followed by a home run from Thomas. The Boxers would now hold a comfortable 8-0 lead heading into the eighth inning.
Clark would continue to hold the Bearcats scoreless for seven innings and eventually hand the ball over to David Allen who would pitch the eighth and ninth inning.
The Red and Black would tack on another two runs in the top half of the ninth to put double digits on the board extending the lead to, 10-0.
Koester would enter the final frame of the contest with the bases loaded but would close out the inning with a strikeout, the Boxers would take the 10-1 victory.
Up Next
The Boxers continue their NWC slate next weekend when they host George Fox for a three-game set starting on Feb. 25. First pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
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