SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Senior Nate Stevens cranked a 449-foot blast into the crisp February night sky, giving the Bushnell baseball team a 7-5 walk-off victory over Warner Pacific, salvaging a split on the opening day of the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference season.
 
GAME ONE: Warner Pacific 6, Bushnell 5 (10 Innings)
 
The Knights pulled away victorious in the opener, using a tenth-inning sacrifice fly to seal the victory. After leading early, WPU nearly saw the game slip away as the Albert Jennings hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the contest.
 
Fresh off his first Cascade Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week Award, junior Austin Wolfe was solid for the Beacons on the mound, throwing the first six innings, striking out eight batters and allowing just two runs on three hits. Freshman Griffin Sanchez (0-1) ended up taking the loss, although he pitched well in three innings of relief work, allowing just two hits and striking out three batters.
 
For the Knights, Mitchell Thoma-Britt went 4-for-4 in the contest, hitting a two-run homer in the top of the seventh that broke a 2-2 tie. He later scored the winning run after leading off the top of the tenth inning with a single.
 
Hank Kern (1-0) got the victory after 2 2/3 innings of relief work, but the big story for Warner Pacific was Connor Hale. The senior started the game at shortstop, went 3-for-4 at the plate with three doubles and three runs, and then closed out his second save of the season, pitching the bottom of the tenth where he survived two Bushnell baserunners.
 
GAME TWO: Bushnell 7, Warner Pacific 5
 
The Beacons once again played come-from-behind baseball in the night cap, after spotting the Knights a 5-0 lead through the first two innings. Hunter Schwenk helped steady the ship after coming in during a three-run second inning. He ended up pitching through the sixth inning, going 4.1 with six strikeouts and didn't allow a run. Tristan Mallari followed with five strikeouts over the next 2.2 innings, scattering a pair of hits, but no more damage to the scoreboard.
 
Bushnell struggled offensively, collecting just two hits through the first six innings before coming alive in the bottom of the seventh. It was a productive station-to-station inning for the Beacons, who saw five of the first six batters reach base including four on singles. Mana Heffernan and Jaden Thomson each had RBI singles as the Beacons came within 5-3.
 
In the eighth, they added two more runs of the unearned variety. Eli Pupo reached base on an error at third base with two outs and two runners as Stevens came home from third. Then, with runners at first-and-third, Bushnell put on the delayed double-steal with Caleb Richter plating the tying run as the throw from the catcher went to second base to try and get Pupo.
 
Warner Pacific ended up leaving 16 runners on base in the contest, and once again had a chance as they had a runner in scoring position with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Jahshua Yacapin (1-1) came in to record the final out of the inning. He threw just three pitches to claim the victory as the Beacons went on to seal the win in the bottom frame on the blast from Stevens.
 
Max Richards, Heffernan, and Thomson finished the game with two hits apiece to lead the Bushnell offense while Collin Schiller went 3-for-5 for the Knights and Alex Nisbet hit 1-for-3 with three RBI.
 
UP NEXT: The Beacons (8-6, 1-1 CCC) will play two more games with Warner Pacific (5-4, 1-1) on Saturday, beginning at 11:00 am. The first game will be a CCC contest followed by a non-conference fourth game.