EUGENE – The Roseburg baseball team dropped into a tie for fourth place in the Southwest Conference after losing twice to the Sheldon Irish on Saturday.

The Indians struck out 11 times against Sheldon starter Justin Herbert for a 6-1 loss in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader and the Irish prevailed 12-8 in a seesaw battle in game two.

Roseburg got runners into scoring position in four of the seven innings of game one, but struggled to string together hits against Herbert and drive in those runners. The Indians scored their lone run in the top of the seventh inning on a double by Justin Grubbs, but Roseburg left five runners on base, each of which were in scoring position.

Sheldon scored three runs in the third and fourth innings against Roseburg’s Will Reddekopp. All three runs in the third inning were unearned and scored with two outs. In the fourth inning, Zach Diehl drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a one-out double by Tanner Zanke, who later scored on a single by Matt Land. Herbert drove in Land with a two-out double that made the score 6-0.

In game two, Sheldon took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Roseburg pitcher Zack Mandera allowed four straight hits to leadoff the inning. A double by Sam Olsson plated two runs, but would have scored three if not for an on-point relay throw from right fielder Chris Stone to shortstop Zack Watkins, who then fired a strike to the plate allowing Terell Jacks to easily tag Herbert trying to score from first.

Roseburg took its first lead against the Irish with three runs in the second inning. The first run scored on a throwing error from pitcher Dylan Dudley and the Indians added runs on a ground out by Treven Jacks and a two-out single by Terrell Jacks.

The Indians stretched their lead to 4-2 with a run on a sacrifice fly from Luke Lucido in the fourth inning, but Sheldon came back to retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Irish scored four times to pull ahead 6-4.

Roseburg retaliated with four runs of their own in the fifth inning against reliever Patrick Herbert. The freshman did not give up a hit, but an error, two walks, and a hit batter put runners on, which the Indians drove in. Will Reddekopp drove in two runs with a single off of Justin Herbert, who relieved the younger Herbert on the mound. Treven Jacks drove in a run on another ground out and the Indians were up 8-6.

The Irish scored two more runs off of Mandera before he left the game after five innings with the score tied 8-8. Zack Watkins took the mound for the Indians and surrendered the lead in the sixth by giving up four runs to Sheldon. Highlighting the four-run sixth was a two-run homerun by Justin Herbert. It was Herbert’s fourth extra base hit in three games against the Indians.

Roseburg drops into a tie for fourth place in the Southwest Conference with South Medford. The top four teams in the conference receive automatic berths in the state playoffs. The Panthers hold the tie-breaker over the Indians and would receive the final playoff spot if the teams were to end the season in a tie.

The Indians can still finish in third in the conference as the final week of games approaches. Roseburg sits two games behind third place South Eugene and can pass the Axemen if they lose all three of their final games against Sheldon. The Indians play their final three games against Willamette and will need to win at least two out of three if they hope to move up in the standings. South Medford will also be in the mix depending on how the Panthers fair against Grants Pass to end the regular season.

Roseburg and Willamette begin their series with a single game in Eugene on Tuesday. The regular season comes to an end on Saturday with a doubleheader in Roseburg.

SCORES BY INN. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 – R H E
ROSEBURG        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 4 2
SHELDON          0 0 3 3 0 0 X – 6 7 1
W: Justin Herbert
L: Will Reddekopp

SCORES BY INN. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 – R H E
ROSEBURG        0 3 0 1 4 0 0 – 8 8 4
SHELDON          2 0 0 4 2 4 X – 12 14 3
W: Justin Herbert
L: Zack Watkins