PNW College Baseball Today
For games between March 18th and March 21st. Times listed are PT.Thursday
G1 MSU Billings 8, Central Washington 3 – MSU Billings jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs on an error and a sacrifice fly. CWU starter Alex Brady labored through 4.1 innings, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits before being relieved. MSU Billings broke the game open with a 3-run 5th inning rally highlighted by an RBI double from Ryan Jeffrey. CWU finally got on the board in the 7th inning when Ben Leid crushed a solo home run to right-center field. Marcus Manzardo followed with an RBI double and Kevin Varner Jr. added an RBI single to draw CWU within 7-3. However, MSU Billings catcher Jarret Elmer answered with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the 7th. MSU Billings starter Jackson Betancourt earned the win, tossing 7 strong innings and allowing just the 3 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8. Sage Wayment closed it out with 2 scoreless innings of relief. Bodee Wright, Jack Nehler, and Ryan Jeffrey each had 3 hits to pace the Yellowjackets offense in the 8-3 victory.G2: Central Washington 9, MSU Billings 6 (8) – CWU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on a passed ball, RBI ground out, and wild pitch to score those runs. The Wildcats would add on after Jake Madson doubled home a run in the 2nd. MSU Billings responded with a 3-run bottom of the fourth, scoring on an error, a passed ball, and an RBI single by Zack Blaszak to take a 3-2 lead. The Wildcats regained the lead 5-4 in the sixth, scoring a run on a double play and then an RBI single from Marcus Manzardo. In the 7th, Brady Hinkle hit a sac fly to make it 6-4 CWU. MSUB then tied it 6-6 when Brock Molenda reached on an error allowing two unearned runs to score. The game was decided in the 8th when Ohland crushed a 3-run homer, putting CWU ahead 9-6 which held as the final score. Nolan Milliman earned the win for CWU, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings in relief. Sage Wayment took the loss for MSUB after allowing 3 runs in the eighth. Offensively for the Wildcats, Ohland drove in 3 runs while Ben Leid and Jake Madson each had 2 hits, with Madson doubling twice. Jack Nehler led MSUB at the plate, collecting 3 hits. Bodee Wright, Zack Blaszak, and Brock Molenda all had 2 hits apiece for the Yellowjackets.
JUCO:
G1 Umpqua 13, Clackamas 2 (7)
G2 Clackamas 4, Umpqua 1 (7)
G1 SW Oregon 6, Mt. Hood 5
G2 SW Oregon 6, Mt. Hood 5 (7)
G1 Lane 7, Chemeketa 0
G2 Lane 4, Chemeketa 0 (7)
Wednesday
(D1) Washington State 10, Seattle U 3 – Seattle U took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st on a Cam Dayton RBI single. However, WSU responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd on Griffen Sotomayor’s two-run homer to right, his first career home run at the collegiate level, to make it 2-1 Cougars. The Redhawks briefly tied it at 2-2 in the top of the 3rd when Sam Kane doubled and later scored on a double play ground out. But the Cougars regained the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the 4th on Cole Cramer’s RBI single. Washington State then blew it open with 3 runs in the 5th, aided by a Seattle error, to go up 6-2. Casen Taggart and Cramer had RBI singles in the rally. The Cougars tacked on 3 more in the 6th to make it 9-2 thanks, in part, to RBI singles from Max Hartman and Joey Kramer. Seattle U got one back in the 7th on Kane’s RBI single to make it 9-3, but WSU added an insurance run in the 7th on a Crew Parke sac fly for the 10-3 final score. Duke Brotherton earned the win in relief for the Cougs, throwing 3 innings of shutout ball with 3 strikeouts.(D2) Western Oregon 8, (D3) George Fox 5 – WOU jumped ahead 2-0 in the 4th on Randy Stultz’s two-run homer scoring AJ Cortese who reached on an error. They extended it to 4-0 with runs in the 6th on RBI hits by Dylan Mohler and Kyle Parkman. Cortese then doubled home a run in the 7th to make it 5-0 before George Fox battled back with 3 runs, capitalizing on an error and Jared Miller’s two-run single to cut it to 5-3. Both teams traded runs in the 8th. Western Oregon scored two on a pinch-hit two-run double by Trey Nelson for a 7-3 lead. George Fox answered with two of their own on Jared Whitaker’s RBI double and a wild pitch to make it 7-5. Curran Mitzel would add an RBI single in the 9th for the 8-5 final score. Offensive stars were Cortese (2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI) and Stultz (HR, 2 RBIs) for Western Oregon and Whitaker (2-for-2, 2B, RBI) for George Fox. Chris Jones earned the win and Bryce Bond the save for Western Oregon.
Tuesday
(D1) #2 Oregon State 14, Portland 3 – Oregon State pounded out 14 hits, including five home runs, on their way to a 14-3 midweek victory over the Pilots. The Beavers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on Travis Bazzana’s solo home run to right field. Bazzana had a monster game, going 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs. His first home run was also the 200th hit of his collegiate career, a impressive milestone. Mason Guerra was the star of the day, blasting three home runs and driving in a career-high six runs. His first homer was a two-run shot in the 3rd to make it 3-1 Beavers. He then launched a three-run blast in the 4th and added a solo shot in the 6th for good measure. Oregon State broke the game open with a five-run 4th inning, capitalizing on three hits to go up 8-2. They tacked on three more in the 5th on Bazzana’s second homer, a three-run shot, to make it 11-2. The Beavers cruised from there behind strong relief pitching. While the offensive fireworks stole the show, Joey Mundt earned the win for Oregon State, allowing no runs over 1.2 innings of relief work.(D1) Washington State 12, Seattle U 5 – Washington State jumped all over Seattle U early, building a 3-0 lead after the 1st inning. The big blow was Casen Taggart’s 3-run homer. The Cougars continued to pour it on, extending the lead to 7-0 after Taggart’s second home run of the game, a 2-run shot in the 6th. Seattle U tried to battle back with a 4-run 7th inning, capped by Trevor Antonson’s solo blast, to cut the deficit to 7-4. But WSU answered with 4 runs in the bottom half with RBI singles from Nate Swarts, Crew Parke, Max Hartman, and Kyle Russel to take an 11-4 advantage. Russell played a major role, going 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBIs. Each team would tack on an unearned run in the 8th. Nate Swarts and Crew Parke each had multi-hit days for the 17-hit WSU attack. Rylan Haider earned the win, allowing just 6 hits over 4 scoreless frames.
(D3) Pacific 9, Linfield 3 – Pacific (Ore.) defeated Linfield 9-3 in an offensive showdown. The Boxers got on the board early, scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning highlighted by a solo home run from Matt Gibbs and RBI double from Jake Gallagher. They added runs via the long ball with a solo homer in the 3rd by Walker Matthews and in the 7th by Gallagher. The Boxers broke it open with a 4-run 8th inning. Jack Rhea had an RBI double, while Gallagher, Ty Yukumoto and CJ Colyer added RBI singles in the frame. Matthews, Yukumoto, Rhea, Gallagher, and Dawson Tokishi all had multi-hit games for Pacific. The Boxers pitching was led by starter Governor Aufranc who went 3 innings allowing just 1 run. Reliever Ayden Ruminski also chipped in 2 solid innings. But it was Joey Harmon who earned the win, tossing 4 innings of 2-hit, 1 unearned run relief. For Linfield, Trent Wainfeld homered in the 5th and Elijah Maris had 2 hits and 2 RBIs. The Wildcats used 6 pitchers and could not slow down the potent Pacific offense.