PORTLAND, Ore.—Edging the home team 1-0 in an 11-inning affair in the opener, Western Oregon came back with an 11-0 win in the nightcap to take the first two games of a four-game series against Concordia University at Porter Park on Saturday.
With the wins, Western Oregon improved to 11-10 on the season and a GNAC-leading 11-3 mark in conference play. Concordia fell to 5-19 overall and 4-10 in league contests. The two teams will close out the series with a Sunday doubleheader scheduled for 12 p.m.
Game 1 – Western Oregon def. Concordia, 1-0 (11 innings)
After surviving a lead-off triple in the bottom of the 10th, Western Oregon manufactured the lone run of the game without the aid of a hit in the top of the 11th to defeat Concordia 1-0 in Saturday's opener.
CU's Trevor Huddleston tripled to right field to lead off the home half of the 10th against reliever Kolby Bales to put the walk-off run 90 feet away for the Cavaliers.
Turning to Jake Simmons on the mound, the Wolves survived the threat with a hard-hit liner snagged by third baseman Nyles Nygaard for the first out and followed with two ground outs.
Cody Dykstra started the top of the 11th by drawing a four-pitch walk and was soon moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Martinez. A wild pitch moved Dyktsra to third while another sac bunt, this time by Nygaard, safely ushered the runner home.
The Cavaliers placed the tying run on base in the bottom of the 11th via a two-out walk before Simmons slammed the door on the contest by forcing a game-ending grounder to third.
Both teams finished with six hits and one error charged. The Cavs stranded nine runners on base compared to six for the Wolves. Simmons earned the win while CU reliever Andrew Willmon took the loss.
WOU's Alex Roth and CU's Jake Roes matched each other fir seven scoreless innings before Roth handed the duties over to Bales. In a valiant starting performance, Roes went on to toss 10 complete shut out innings, with two strikeouts and one.
Game 2: Western Oregon def. Concordia, 11-0
Scoring in each of the first three innings, Western Oregon eased to an 11-0 win in the nightcap. The Wolves scored a single run on a bases-loaded walk in the 1st inning, retuned with two runs in the 2nd and added three runs in the 3rd to stake a 6-0 lead.
The Wolves tacked on four runs in the 6th and a single score in the 7th for the final tally.
Gabe Benavides held the Cavaliers to a single hit through three innings and went on to complete the game with only four hits allowed. Benavides struck out three and walked two in the complete game win.
Justin Spinner led WOU at the plate with a 4-for-4 line that included three RBI and two runs scored.
