NAMPA, Idaho – With the pitching staff once again on its game, the Western Oregon University baseball team picked up a pair of wins over #13 Northwest Nazarene on Friday in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. The Wolves took game one, 3-2 and then put the game away in the middle to late innings of game two for the 7-1 win.
In the opener, Mike Peterson tossed six solid innings allowing just two earned runs along with seven strikeouts. Trae Perkins and Alan Vasquez then went the final three innings to preserve the victory. Vasquez picked up his second save of the season going the final two innings and allowing just two baserunners. In game two, Seth Kuykendall went four innings in relief to grab the win, then Michael Moore went the final two innings of shutout baseball to help complete the sweep.
In the first game, Northwest Nazarene (17-5, 11-3 GNAC) broke through with two runs in the second inning for a 2-0 lead. WOU (12-4, 11-3 GNAC) answered back scoring the final three runs of the game. In the third, Ryan Santa Cruz reached on a throwing error by the pitcher and advanced to second on the error. Derek Maiben singled to put runners at the corners. Jacob Maiben delivered with a singled to right to score Santa Cruz and trim the deficit to one.
In the fourth, Tyler Brandenburg got the offense going with a double down the left field line. He moved to third on a wild pitch and would then come home on a sacrifice fly to center by Santa Cruz to tie the game at two.
WOU tallied what would turn out to be the winning run in the seventh. Santa Cruz opened the frame with a walk and following an out, Derek Maiben was hit-by-pitch. Jacob Maiben walked to load the bases for Connor McCord. A wild pitch happened during McCord's at-bat to bring in the go-ahead run of Santa Cruz for the 3-2 lead. McCord ended up walking to re-load the bases before the Nighthawks got out of the inning with a fly out and throw home double play.
Vasquez worked around a two-out double in the eighth and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the save.
Each team tallied four hits with Derek Maiben, Jacob Maiben, David Gibons and Brandenburg accounting for the hits. Peterson tallied his fourth win (4-0) of the season working the first six innings. Perkins went a scoreless seventh before Vasquez went the final two scoreless innings.
Grant Kerry led NNU with two hits while Sasha Jabusch started and went the first six innings to end up with the no-decision. Ty Hueckman was next on the hill in relief and took the loss (1-1) going a third of an inning and allowing an earned run.
In game two, Kuykendall came in and tossed four big innings to collect his first win (1-0) of the season. He allowed just one earned run and had three strikeouts. Moore tossed a strong two innings to close the game out adding a pair of strikeouts.
The game was scoreless through the first three innings. In the fourth, NNU tallied the first run with a solo home run.
The Wolves came right back in the fifth. Josh Berman doubled and then moved to third on a bunt single by Justyn Herzog. Brandenburg put the next ball in play that turned into a throwing error by the pitcher and allowed Berman to score and moved Herzog to third. Herzog would then score on a sacrifice fly to center by Blayze Arcano to give WOU a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth, the Wolves started to put the game out of reach. Jacob Maiben reached on an error by the second baseman and quickly moved to third on a double to right by McCord. Berman brought everyone home when he launched a three-run homer to push the lead to 5-1.
WOU closed the scoring in the seventh. Arcano opened the frame with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Derek Maiben ripped a double down the left field line to score Arcano. McCord provided the final run of the game with an RBI single through the right side to plate Derek Maiben and expand the lead to 7-1.
Moore then finished the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.
WOU held a 11-5 edge in hits with Derek Maiben going 3-3. McCord, Berman and Herzog all added two hit games. Berman led the way with three RBI.
Kerry again led NNU with two hits and the only RBI off his solo home run. On the mound, Kyle Ethridge started and went the first six innings to end up with the loss (3-1) after allowing five runs (three earned).
WOU, now riding a seven-game winning streak, will conclude their four-game series with NNU tomorrow (Saturday) with another doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. (Pacific).
