MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon baseball team snapped a three-game slide on Thursday with a convincing 11-2 victory over the Lewis-Clark State Warriors at WOU Baseball Field.
The nine-run victory was the largest for Western Oregon (13-6) over Lewis-Clark State (16-11-1) since their 12-0 shutout win April 10, 2011, in Monmouth. It was also their first win over the Warriors since April 9, 2015.
Patrick Chung led the offense with a three-hit performance, finishing a home run shy of the cycle. The senior infielder tripled to right in the first inning to drive in
Anthony Zellner and doubled in J.J. Sargeant in the seventh. He finished the game 3-for-3 with a double, triple, two runs scored and three RBI. After starting the season cold with only two hits over his first seven appearances, Chung has now hit in 11 of his last 12 games and vaulted his average to .316 on the year.
The Wolves' pitching staff struggled to find the zone on Thursday, walking 10 batters over nine innings. The four pitchers that would touch the mound, however, missed plenty of bats as well, striking out 11 and allowing just six hits. It was the seventh time this year the Wolves have held an opponent to six or fewer hits in a nine-inning game.
Those 10 batters to reach on walks for LCSC had trouble advancing as the Warriors left 16 batters on base.
The Wolves led 2-0 before Lewis-Clark State tacked their first run on the board in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Jeff Bart was hit by a pitch to allow a run to walk in.
In a tight two-run game through six innings, Western Oregon busted it wide open with eight runs over their last two frames at the plate. Five runs scored on four hits and an error in the eighth for WOU, including a double for Sargeant to score
Mitchell Hulse and a two-RBI triple for
Griffey Halle.
Halle poured on three hits for WOU, finishing 3-for-5 in the cleanup spot, adding a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. It was his fourth straight multi-hit game.
Western Oregon remains at home this weekend to host Saint Martin's in a four-game series. First pitch in game one of a doubleheader March 30 is set for 1 p.m. at WOU Baseball Field.
