Baseball | 3/20/2011 6:47:46 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 [Game 1 box score] [Game 2 box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Wolves' 16-game home Great Northwest Athletic Conference winning streak was snapped in game one by Saint Martin's, but Western Oregon bounced back behind a strong start by Grady Wood to win game two of the doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 20.

After the split, WOU (12-8, 5-1 GNAC) now trails Saint Martin's (10-12, 8-2 GNAC) by one game in the conference standings.

Game 1
The bottom four hitters in Saint Martin's lineup combined to go 10-for-18 with eight runs scored and five RBI to lead the Saints to a 12-4 victory and its first win in Monmouth in eight tries.

SMU jumped on top with a run in the first and then added two in the fourth on a double by Bobby Twedt. Western Oregon would fight back to tie the game at 3-3 on a two-run homer by Bo Folkinga in the fourth and an RBI double by Grant Glover in the fifth.

The Saints kept the pressure on the Wolves when Cody Brooks led off the top of the sixth with a triple, and eventually scored on a single by Twedt. SMU then added five more in the eighth and three in the ninth to seal the opener.

Folkinga finished the game 2-for-4 with a homer and three runs batted in. Glover, Michael Chiarelli and Griffin Boyd each added two hits for the Wolves.

Twedt and Blaine Evans each had four RBI for the Saints.

Game 2
Daniel Dillard's two-run homer in the third broke a one-all tie, and Grady Wood and Kirk Lind made the lead hold up, to carry the Wolves to 3-1 victory in the nightcap.

Wood went the first six innings allowing one runs and just six hits while striking out three to earn his first victory in a Wolves' uniform. Lind closed out the game for his fifth save of the season.

Dillard went 2-for-3 in the game with that homer. Austin Potter added a double and Western Oregon's first run of the game on a passed ball in the second.

In the half inning prior to Dillard's go-ahead shot, the Saints led off with back-to-back singles, but Wood got Cody Brooks to pop up on the ensuing sacrifice bunt attempt then induced Spencer Dodd into the ground ball double play to end the inning.

Chiarelli then walked on five pitches to lead off the bottom of the third and Dillard followed with a deep home run just inside the left field foul pole two pitches later.

Wood then followed by retiring nine of the Saints' next 10 hitters, before handing the ball off to Lind.

"Wood went out there and threw strikes and if he does that consistently he is going to have good outings," said Western Oregon head coach Jeremiah Robbins. "He did some very good stuff with his pitches and was able to get ahead of hitters and use a couple of different pitches with them.

"Offensively I was very disappointed today," continued Robbins. "We had numerous opportunities to open up both games. We got punched in the face in game one but found a way to win game two."

Next games
The Wolves and Saints will complete their four-game series on Monday beginning at noon.