NEWBERG, Ore.- The Boxer baseball team continued to find ways to win on Saturday, taking two from the Pioneers of Lewis & Clark College, in a series that featured two of the top offenses in the country this spring. The 10-9 and 8-7 wins for the Boxers showcased the offensive prowess of the two teams, but also the timely pitching of Coach Billings' staff.
The third game of the set was postponed due to weather on Sunday and will be played on Tuesday, April 11
th.
"Saturday felt like playoff baseball," Billings said. "There were some big momentum swings on Saturday and I was impressed with how we handled that mentally."
Game One
The Boxers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the top of the third inning and added four more in the fifth inning to take a 9-1 lead. Starter
Will Clark (Senior/ Boise, ID), who picked up his fourth win, struck out 8 over his five innings on the mound. The 9-1 lead would not prove enough as the Pioneers rebounded with 8 runs over the next four innings, but
Matt Gibbs' (Junior/ Beaverton, OR) sixth inning sacrifice fly would provide the 10
th and winning run for the Boxers. Reliever
Shane Melrose (Sophomore/ Redmond, WA) threw one-hit ball over the final inning and two-thirds to pick up his first save of the season.
Six Boxers produced multiple hits in Game 1 and four (
Dawson Tokishi, Matt Gibbs, Davis Koester, and Walker Matthews) had 2 RBI each.
Tyler Quinn (Senior/ Mililani, HI) added the sole home run for the Boxers, who lead the NWC with 28 home runs in 19 NWC games.
Game Two
The Boxers and Pioneers traded early runs and the Boxers took a 5-2 lead after four innings, but a five run fifth put the Pioneers up 7-5.
Jake Gallagher (Freshman/ Lake Tapps, WA) led the early offense with a bases loaded clearing single in the fourth inning.
The Boxers would score the final three runs to sweep the day, 8-7.
Isaac Lovings (Senior/ Beaverton, OR) brought the Boxers to within one run with his 9
th home run of the season in the sixth inning. Tokishi's eighth inning sacrifice fly tied the score and Quinn followed up with an RBI double for the eighth and final run of the day.
Koester,
Tyler Agnew, and
Joey Harmon shut the Pioneers down over the final two and two-third innings allowing no runs on three hits. Agnew picked up his first win of the season and Harmon closed the game out, earning his second save of the season.
This made for the fifth series win in seven conference sets for the Boxers who remain atop the conference standings with one full series remaining along with single make up games against George Fox University and this weekend's postponed single game versus Lewis & Clark College.
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