Baseball | 4/8/2012 7:06:00 PM

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

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Kirk Lind, Brian Pisca, AJ Burke and Ian MacDougall held MSU Billings scoreless over 16 innings to help N. 25 Western Oregon sweep the doubleheader, 12-0 and 5-0, on Sunday, Apr. 8.

The wins gave the Wolves (24-7, 13-1 GNAC) its 18th straight win at the WOU baseball field. The losses dropped MSU Billings to 11-15 (4-10 GNAC) on the season.

Bo Folkinga led the Wolves by going 5-for-7 with three RBI and four runs scored. He had a cycle combined between the two games as he hit a double, a triple and a home run.

Game 1
Kirk Lind (4-2) threw eight innings allowing no runs and just seven hits while striking out seven to lead the Wolves to the 12-0 win. Pisca would pitch a perfect ninth inning while striking out two.

The game was scoreless thru the first three and a half innings before the Wolves offense busted out in the fourth on a three-run homer by Folkinga. The Wolves would tack on one more run in the fifth on a suicide squeeze by Matt Nylen which plated David Amberson. Western Oregon would put the game away in the sixth thanks to five unearned runs.

Bo Folkinga led the Wolves by going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. Matt Nylen added three RBI of his  own as he doubled and went 2-for-3. Blake Miller added two doubles of his own and David Amberson added three runs scored. The top four hitters in the Wolves' starting lineup combined to go 9-for-15 with a home run, five doubles, seven runs scored and eight RBI.

Game 2
AJ Burke and Ian MacDougall held MSU Billings to just two hits and no runs in the final game of the series to ensure the sweep for Western Oregon with a 5-0 win.

Burke, who was making just his second start of the season and his first-ever at home, went the first four innings giving up just the two hits and one walk while striking out five. He pitched himself out of trouble on a couple of occasions as he twice had to strand a runner at third. In the second inning Colby Robison led off the inning with a single and got all the way to third base with no out thanks to a wild pitch and a passed ball. Burke then settled in and got a pair of strike outs and swallow fly to center to get out of the jam. The other would come in the fourth inning when the Yellowjackets got a runner to third with two out, but Burke induced a grounder to shortstop off the bat of Mack Unruh to end the inning.

Ian MacDougall would take over from there. He retired the next nine Yellowjackets in order to end the game and notch his GNAC-leading fifth save of the season.

Bo Folkinga would once again provide the Wolves' offense the early spark. He led off the second inning with a triple off the center field wall and came in to score on a wild pitch.

Western Oregon would add four insurance runs in the fourth to extend its lead to 5-0. Blake Miller led off the inning with a solo homer to left field. Folkinga, Quinn Naughtin and Scott David then each singled to load the bases. AJ Royal then hit a sacrifice fly to score Folkinga and Naughtin came in on a wild pitch. Griff Boyd capped off the inning by hitting an RBI ground out to shortstop.

Folkinga was the only student-athlete on either team to record a multi-hit game. He went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Western Oregon left just two runners on in the game.

Next games
The Western Oregon will be in Nampa, Idaho next Friday (Apr. 13) to begin a four-game series with Northwest Nazarene. The first pitch on Friday will be 3:00 p.m. (PST).