ELLENSBURG, Wash. – It was another series win for the Western Oregon University baseball team as the Saturday sweep at Central Washington gave the Wolves the 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference series victory. The Wolves cruised to the 11-4 win in the opener and then held off a late rally by the Wildcats to take the series finale, 8-7.
The 14 hits in the second game is a new season-high. John Stark hit three home runs on Saturday and finished with four in the series.
Central Washington (12-29, 6-18 GNAC) opened the scoring in the first game plating a run in the opening frame.
WOU (24-15, 15-9 GNAC) answered back with a pair of runs in the second. Stark and Anthony Zellner walked and moved up on a sacrifice bunt. After the second out was recorded, Jackson Holstad hit a grounder to short that turned into an error allowing both runs to score for the 2-1 lead.
Levin Cummings opened the third with a bang launching a solo homer to left for the 3-1 lead.
The Wolves broke it open in the fourth. Leighton Moniz singled and eventually reached third on a double play. Another two-out rally started with Cummings and Jacob Maiben being hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Justyn Herzog delivered with a double to right to plate two runs. Derek Maiben closed the inning with a single through the left side to bring in two more runs for the 7-1 lead.
Central Washington got three runs back in the sixth on a three-run HR to trim the lead to 7-4.
WOU responded in the seventh. Herzog walked and after moving to second on a balk, he scored on a double down the left field line by Derek Maiben. Stark followed with a two-run homer to push the lead to 10-4. Zellner reached on an error and would eventually score on a single by Holstad and error by the left fielder for the 11-4 lead.
Sebasten Boivin and Chris Hardin closed it out from there tossing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Arturo Alvarez improved to 5-0 getting the win after working the first 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out seven. Boivin went the next 1.1 innings, before Hardin finished off the final two innings of scoreless relief.
Derek Maiben tallied two hits and drove in three. Holstad added three RBI, while Herzog and Stark each added two RBI.
Each team tallied seven hits and there were five errors, three committed by CWU. Michael Peter led the Wildcats with two hits and Tyler McClain drove in three. On the mound, Jonathan Garza II ended up with the loss (1-2) going the first 3.2 innings and allowing five runs (three earned). Four relievers went the final 5.1 innings and allowed six earned runs.
In game two, WOU started early and then held off a late rally by the Wildcats to secure the series victory. The Wolves opened up the scoring with six runs over the first two innings.
Jacob Maiben began the game with a single and then quickly scored when Herzog ripped a triple into the right field corner. Derek Maiben brought in Herzog with an RBI groundout to short. Stark capped the scoring in the first hitting a solo homer to left for the 3-0 lead.
After CWU got a run back with a solo homer in the home half of the first inning, WOU plated three more in the second. Cummings singled and then moved to third on a double to right-center by Herzog. Derek Maiben drove in a run with a fielder's choice that later turned into an error. Stark added an RBI single to left before Zellner closed the inning with an RBI single to right for the 6-1 lead.
The Wildcats tallied two runs in the second and added another in the third to pull to within two at 6-4.
WOU got a run back in the fifth when Stark opened the inning with a solo homer to left. The Wolves then tallied their last run in the seventh and as it turned out, it was a big run. Herzog opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Stark was intentionally walked, a fielder's choice marked the second out before Zach Valdez delivered the two-out RBI single through the left side for the 8-4 lead.
That extra run was immediately needed when the Wildcats came back with a one-out three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to pull to within a run. Matthew Dunaway then tallied a fly out and a strikeout to end the game with WOU claiming the 8-7 victory.
WOU held the 14-10 edge in hits and CWU committed the only error. Herzog and Stark led the offense with three hits apiece. Jacob Maiben and Zellner added two hits apiece. Stark drove in three runs while Derek Maiben added two RBI. On the mound, Parker Johnson picked up his team-leading seventh win (7-2) of the season going six innings, allowing five earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. Dunaway tossed the seventh allowing two runs with a strikeout.
McClain and Charlie Larson each had two hits for CWU with McClain driving in three. On the mound, Dylan Weese started and took the loss (1-4) allowing six runs (five earned) in 1.1 innings. Jake Bradley did most of the heavy lifting out of the 'pen going 5.1 innings and allowing two earned runs.
With Northwest Nazarene going 1-3 at Saint Martin's this week, WOU and NNU enter next week's matchup separated by just one game in the GNAC standings.
Before WOU hosts NNU, the Wolves will play at Bushnell this coming Tuesday starting at 4 p.m. in Eugene. The Wolves will then begin their four-game GNAC series with NNU in Monmouth on Friday starting at 1 p.m. The teams will then finish the series on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. which will also be senior day for WOU.
