SALEM – The Roseburg baseball team didn’t have the offense needed to pull off a first round upset as the Indians’ season came to an end with a 7-2 loss against the West Salem Titans on Monday.
Titans pitcher Matt Lester kept Roseburg off balance, scattering five hits over 6 1/3 innings and holding the Indians scoreless for six innings. Roseburg failed to capitalize on the one weakness Lester showed, walks. The Indians drew seven walks from the senior left-hander, but left 10 men stranded on base during the contest.
Meanwhile, West Salem started the scoring in the second inning by plating two runs with two outs. The Titans added another run in the third, two in the fourth and another two in the sixth. West Salem finished with 12 hits against Roseburg pitchers Chris Stone and Zack Mandera.
The Indians avoided the shutout with two runs in the seventh and tried to make the game interesting by loading the bases with two outs. The Titans went to the bullpen twice in the final frame to secure the win, but after walking in a run against the first batter he faced, senior Hunter Johnson struck out the next to batters to end the game.
West Salem will face Lincoln in the second round on Wednesday. Roseburg ends the season with an 11-15 overall record. The Indians will graduate eight seniors off of this season’s roster.
SCORES BY INN. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 – R H E
ROSEBURG 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 – 2 5 2
WEST SALEM 0 2 1 2 0 2 X – 7 12 1
W: Matt Lester
L: Chris Stone