ROSEBURG – The Roseburg High baseball team won its sixth straight game and took over sole possession of first place in the Southwest Conference with a 5-3 comeback victory over the South Eugene Axe on Tuesday at Legion Field.

The Indians overcame an early 3-0 deficit and scored the winning runs in the sixth inning on back-to-back singles from Spencer Six and Caden Johnson. The victory snapped a seven-game winning streak for South Eugene.

“When you get behind there’s only one thing you can do and that’s find your way out of it and keep playing through it,” said Roseburg coach Troy Thompson.

For a second consecutive game, Roseburg (9-3; 6-0 SWC) had to come back from three-run deficit.

South Eugene (11-4; 5-1 SWC) took advantage of some early-game Roseburg miscues. The Axe scored their first run on a botched double-play attempt in the second inning. They made it 2-0 later that inning on a single by Aidan Bray and stretched the lead to 3-0 on a wild pitch.

Roseburg starter Garrett Zeimet battled back from the shaky start to hold South Eugene scoreless over the next 3 ⅔ innings. The sophomore only allowed three more hits the rest of his outing. He finished with a no-decision, allowing only four hits and one earned run.

“A great gutsy effort is what I’d call it from Garrett,” said Thompson. “It was nice to see him do that mentality-wise and it was nice to see him get better as the game went on and allow us a chance to score those runs late to pick up the win.”

Roseburg got on the board in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Jace Stoffal. A wild pitch by South Eugene starter Hunter Brown plated Jett Black and made it 3-2 in favor of the Axe.

The Indians remained down by one until the fourth when Stoffal drove in his second run of the game with a double to tie the score at 3-3.

“I had a lot of confidence at the plate and just tried to get on base for the team,” said Stoffal.

The junior got on base again in the sixth with a leadoff single. Stoffal came around to score the go-ahead run on a two-out single by Six.

Senior Zack Mandera earned his fourth win in relief of Zeimet. He tossed the final 1 ⅓ innings and allowed just one hit. Mandera also finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Designated hitter Aidan Bray led South Eugene with two hits and an RBI.

The Indians have a week off before their next game on Tuesday. Roseburg hosts Sheldon at Legion Field.

S. Eugene;030;000;0;—3;4;1

Roseburg;020;102;X;—5;6;4

Brown, Boettcher (5) and Edwards, Brown (5); Zeimet, Mandera (6) and Six. WP — Mandera, 4-1. LP — Boettcher. 2B — R: Mandera, Stoffal.

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