MILWAUKIE, Ore. – Five home runs paced the Bushnell offense on Friday while both starting pitchers produced strong performances, giving the Beacons a sweep of first-year program Warner Pacific University in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
Bushnell (11-2, 4-1 CCC) moved into sole possession of first place in the CCC with the wins, and dropped their CCC-leading Earned Run Average to under 4.00, giving up just three earned runs over 18 innings of work.
"Our bats came out hot in support of a great start from
Austin Wolfe in game one," said head coach
Jamie Womack. "I am proud of the effort in game one, but mental miscues and missed opportunities added a lot of stress in game two. We will take two conference wins any day, but need to come out excited and ready to go tomorrow to finish a good weekend."
GAME ONE: Bushnell 10, Warner Pacific 1
A blowout win only got bigger for the Beacons in the ninth inning of their opener as
Will Hudler hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot to make it a 10-0 game at that time.
Hudler, who went 3-for-5 in the game, had jump-started the Beacons in the third inning, hitting a solo shot in the top of the third for an early 1-0 lead.
Jordan Wilson made it 2-0 in the fourth with his 29th career home run, and the Beacons kept the train rolling from there, including a two-run jack from
Cade Crist in the sixth.
Austin Wolfe (1-0) was finally able to pick up his first victory of the season, after a series of three no decisions in quality starts to begin the season. The sophomore went six strong, scattering three singles and striking out six batters.
Blake Stavros went the final three innings to get the win, striking out three.
GAME TWO: Bushnell 6, Warner Pacific 5
Game two was a closer battle for the Beacons, but not without its share of drama as the teams traded leads three times and were tied after WPU snuck in an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Bushnell had been ahead 5-2 after three innings, including a solo home from Crist for his second of the day, but the Knights took advantage of Beacon miscues in the fifth that allowed two runs to come in.
Warner Pacific got their comeuppance in the top of the ninth, however, with a misfired through on a Sacrifice Bunt by Hudler, which allowed
Reece Carganilla to score what would amount to the game winner.
Braden Proud got the start for the Beacons and went five innings, striking out three batters and allowing just two earned runs.
Loreto Siniscalchi (3-0) came in for the sixth and had a masterful relief appearance, striking out three batters over three innings without allowing an earned run.
Garrett Vohs ended the game with a perfect ninth, claiming his first save.
UP NEXT: Bushnell will play two more with the Knights (3-5, 1-4) on Saturday, closing out the three-game CCC series before a non-conference fourth game. The first pitch for game three is scheduled for 11:00 am.
