PORTLAND, Ore.—Surviving a late rally in the opener and an extra-inning affair in the nightcap, Concordia University handed Western Oregon University back-to-back 5-4 defeats in GNAC baseball action at Porter Park on Monday.
With the wins Concordia improved to 15-22 on the season and 14-13 in GNAC play. Western Oregon fell to 15-15 overall and 15-11 in conference competitions.
The two teams have now played seven games against each other this season with six of those games ending with a win by two runs or less.
Game 1: Concordia def. Western Oregon, 5-4
Picking up Sunday's rain-halted game with a 5-2 lead in the 4th inning, Concordia withheld a late charge by Western Oregon for a 5-4 win.
With Craig Grubbe starting the day and tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings, the Wolves had a chance to knot the game in the 7th after a leadoff single by Spencer Bennion. Pinch runner Nawai Ah-Yen advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a grounder to short. After providing the Wolves with a solo homer in the 5th inning, Griffey Halle registered his second RBI of the game with a single to right to plate Ah-Hen and place the tying run on base.
CU reliever Dylan Diaz, however, posted consecutive strikeouts to close out the game. Diaz improved to 2-4 on the season after hurling the final four innings. Diaz struck out six and walked one.
Concordia outhit WOU, 10 to 5 in the game with Halle the lone Wolf with multiple hits
Game 2: Concordia def. Western Oregon, 5-4 (11 inn.)
For the second time in the season series, Western Oregon and Concordia played to the 11th inning, but this time Concordia got the best out of the extra-innings with a 5-4 win on Monday. Western Oregon previously defeated Concordia with a 1-0 win in 11 innings on March 24.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held a 4-1 advantage heading to the bottom of the 8th.
After already plating one run in the inning and batting with the bases loaded, Cody Dykstra slashed a single to left field for the game-tying runs.
The Wolves escaped a one-out walk in the top of the 9th and managed to place a runner at third for the potential game-winning run 90 feet from the plate, but CU reliever Isiah Hatch came in for the final out of the frame.
Hatch went on to toss two more scoreless stanzas despite Western Oregon again landing a runner at third base in the 10th inning.
The Cavaliers broke the stalemate in the top of the 11th with am RBI single by Mitch Bavacqua after Hatch started the attack with a lead-off double.
After scoring the go-ahead run on Bevacqua's hit, Hatch retired the Wolves in order to pick up the win as the pitcher of record.
Concordia ended the night with a 10 to 9 edge in total hits while a total of 25 base runners were left on base, including 14 for CU. Bavacqua went 3-for-5 for the Cavs while Justin Waken finished 3-for-4 for WOU with one run scored and one RBI.
Connor McCord took the loss for the Wolves with one earned run in two innings of work. On the mound, McCord struck out three and did not walk a batter while also going 2-for-4 at the plate after starting the game at first base for WOU.
