SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The Bushnell baseball team started the year off strong on the mound as seven pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts in 16 innings and the Beacons pulled out a split with Simpson University.
The Beacons (1-1) won their season opener for the third year in a row, claiming a 7-4 victory over the Red Hawks (4-6) in game one, only to have one bad inning hurt in a 5-2 loss in the seven-inning night cap.
The offense had a strong debut as well, combining for 19 hits. Senior
Cade Crist led the Beacons with five hits on the day while
Chase Nye hit his second career home run, a game-sealing three-run blast in game one.
Head Coach
Jamie Womack said, "I am proud of the guys for coming out in game one excited and ready to compete. Wolfe gave us a great chance followed up by Siniscalchi and Biddinger keeping us in range to get the win. It was exciting to see
CJ Smith step up with a couple hits and
Chase Nye step up in a big way with a three-run home run to extend the lead."
GAME ONE: BUSHNELL 7, SIMPSON 4
Austin Wolfe got the start for the Beacons in the opener, setting the tone with a five-inning, five-strikeout performance. Loretto Siniscalchi (1-0) picked up the victory with 2.1 innings of relief and three strikeouts while
Tyler Biddinger went the final 1.2 innings to earn his first save.
The staff combined to note only strike out nine, but forced 16 groundouts and didn't allow a single ball to outfield through the air until the eighth inning.
After the Red Hawks took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second, Bushnell answered in the bottom with a manufactured run of their own as
Jacob Richardson hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
There the scored remained, until the top of the sixth when Dylan Leek singled, stole second, advanced on a ground out and scored on another ground out to give Simpson the advantage.
The Beacons once again had the answer and this time, took the lead as
Reece Carganilla poked a two-RBI single up the middle.
A 3-2 lead quickly turned into a 6-2 advantage in the bottom of the seventh when Nye crushed a three-run blast over the Beacon bullpen in right field for Bushnell's first long ball of the season. It was enough of an insurance policy to survive a later two-run double.
Crist finished the game hitting 3-for-4 while
CJ Smith added a pair of hits.
Nate Stevens reached base four times, earning two hits and a pair of walks.
GAME TWO: SIMPSON 5, BUSHNELL 2
It was another back-and-forth battle in the night cap. Simpson grabbed the early lead with a first-inning solo homer by Cayden Lee, but Crist continued his hot start with a pair of RBI singles in the first and third, giving the Beacons the 2-1 edge.
Simpson, however, countered with a run on an error in the fourth inning to tie things up. Then, in the top of the sixth the visitors put things away with a pair of singles that brought in three runs.
The three-run, three-hit inning was the lone ding to the Beacon pitching staff on Friday. Senior
Ethan Sachs had started the game for the Beacons and went three innings, striking out five batters and giving up just a pair of hits.
Kai Keamo (0-1) took the loss, walking the leadoff batter and eventual go-ahead runner in the sixth before being pulled after two innings of one-hit baseball.
Garrett Vohs also had a strong outing for the Beacons, striking out the side in the seventh.
"Game two was a perfect example of not putting a complete day together," said Womack. "It was bookended by great outings from Sachs and Vohs, but we lost in the middle game and that cost us. We have a great opportunity to bounce back tomorrow and compete to win a series."
Up Next: Bushnell and Simpson finish off the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.
