MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team cruised to the 13-4 win over Bushnell on Tuesday at the WOU Baseball Field.
It was a perfect day for baseball with temperatures in the 60's and just a few clouds in the sky.
WOU (15-11) had several players see the field with nine players coming away with at least a hit and seven pitchers took the mound. Spencer Weston led the offense with three hits, four RBI and a run scored. Hibiki Ouchi tallied a pair of hits and a run scored. Darian Noll added a two-run single. John Stark blasted a towering home run to center and also scored three runs.
On the mound, Curran Mitzel started and pitched for the first time this year. He tossed two strong scoreless innings. Chris Jones pitched the third and added a pair of strikeouts and allowed just one earned run. Dominic Miller ended up getting the win (1-0) working two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Joe Kinsky went the next 1.1 innings, striking out the side in the sixth and eventually finished with four and allowed two earned runs. Seth Kuykendall tossed two-thirds of scoreless relief with two strikeouts. Michael Moore pitched the eighth getting two strikeouts and allowing one earned run. Sebasten Boivin closed it out in the ninth working a scoreless inning and struck out the side.
Neither team scored through the first two innings and Bushnell (6-20) broke the scoreless tie with a wild pitch run in the third.
WOU blew the game open in the fourth. With Jacob Maiben being hit-by-pitch, Derek Maiben singled and eventually Stark was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Sebastian Morales walked on four pitches for the RBI. Spencer Six hit a shot to first that turned into a fielder's choice and error when the first baseman tried to get the runner at second, but the throw pulled the fielder off the bag. On the play, Derek Maiben scored from third. Weston drove in the third run of the inning when he hit a grounder to third that later brought in two runs when the throw from the third baseman to second sailed to the outfield to push the lead to 5-1.
The Wolves expanded the lead in the sixth. Morales opened the frame with a single to right. Ouchi then hit a deep drive into the gap in right-center that went for a double to put runners at second and third. Weston brought the first run home with a single up the middle. Noll battled an hit a 3-2 pitch through the hole on the left side of the infield for two runs. Jacob Maiben closed the inning with an RBI single for the 9-1 lead.
The Beacons plated a pair of runs in the seventh to leave WOU with the 9-3 lead.
Stark started the seventh with a bang connecting on an 0-1 pitch and hitting it deep over the center field fence for a solo homer and a 10-3 lead.
Bushnell tallied their final run of the game off of three singles in the eighth to leave WOU ahead at 10-4.
Justyn Herzog added the second homer of the day in the eighth, but his didn't leave the park. On a 1-1 pitch, Herzog drilled a deep drive that carried all the way to the center field wall. As the ball bounced and got loose, Herzog made it all the way around for the inside-the-park home run. Stark got the offense going again with a full-count walk. Levi Cummings added a singled to third base. After both moved up on a wild pitch, Weston capped the scoring with a two-run double to right-center for the 13-4 lead.
Boivin closed the game out working around a pair of singles to strikeout the side.
WOU held the 12-10 edge in hits and there were four errors in the game, three committed by the Beacons.
Jacob Stoner and Noah Montoya led Bushnell with two hits apiece. On the mound, the Beacons also threw seven different pitchers. Gregory Joe ended up with the loss (0-1) allowing five runs (one earned).
WOU will now have the rest of the week off before hosting Saint Martin's next weekend on Apr. 2-3 with doubleheaders each day at the WOU Baseball Field starting at 1 p.m.
