ROSEBURG – The Roseburg baseball team used a six-run seventh inning to force extra innings in game one of a Southwest Conference doubleheader against South Eugene on Saturday and the Indians won the game 9-8 with a walk-off walk in the bottom of the ninth.
The victory gave Roseburg a season series win against the Axemen, but South Eugene won game two 6-3 to salvage a split with the Indians.
Roseburg trailed 8-1 against South Eugene going to the bottom of the sixth inning. The Indians scored on a double by Luke Lucido to draw within six runs.
South Eugene starter Isaiah Molaski had surrendered just four hits to the Indians through the first six innings, but Roseburg started to break through against the lefty in the seventh. Cody Johnson led off with a single and two batters later Collin Warmouth hit a one-out single. Brendan Ibarra followed with an RBI groundout to make the score 8-3, but the Indians were down to their final out.
Garrett Russell hit a single to left field that led the South Eugene head coach Danny Sales to make a pitching change. The Axemen turned to Rory James to get the final out, but a walk and back-to-back errors kept the inning and Roseburg’s chances of a comeback alive.
The Indians trailed 8-7 when Johnson came up to bat for a second time in the seventh inning. The junior hit a hard ground ball back up the middle to score Treven Jacks from second and tie the game.
In extra innings, neither team managed to score in the eighth. Roseburg reliever Luke Lucido, who took over for starter Zack Mandera in the sixth, pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to keep the score tied.
Carson Townsend hit a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth and Johnson followed with a walk. Warmouth was later intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases and create a force out at any base. The strategy didn’t work out as Brendan Ibarra drew a walk to bring in the winning run.
South Eugene rebounded to score five runs in the first two innings of game two. Only one of those runs were earned against Roseburg starter Cody Johnson.
South starter Jonah Sherman held the Indians scoreless through the first four innings and the Axemen led 6-1 going to the bottom of the seventh. The Indians once again rallied to make things close in the final frame, but South Eugene shut down the comeback to win 6-3.
The Indians took 2-out-of-3 games against the Axemen and will hold the head-to-head tiebreaker if the two teams finished tied in the final standings.
Up next for the Roseburg Indians is a single conference contest against Grants Pass on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Legion Field. Listen to the game on CBS Sports Radio 1490 The Score or watch online at 541radio.com.
GAME ONE
S. EUGENE; 030; 302; 000 – 8;12;2
ROSEBURG; 100; 001; 601 – 9;10;3
WP – Luke Lucido (2-0)
LP – Rory James
GAME TWO
S. EUGENE; 230; 000; 1 – 6;10;2
ROSEBURG; 000; 010; 2 – 3;4;3
WP – Jonah Sherman
LP – Cody Johnson (2-4)
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