EUGENE — A late season slide continued for the Dr. Stewart’s of Roseburg against the Eugene Challengers on a wet Tuesday night at Swede Johnson Stadium.

The Docs fell behind in both games of an Area 4 doubleheader and their comeback attempts came up short in 5-3 and 7-5 losses to the Challengers. Dr. Stewart’s has now lost four straight games and has fallen into fourth place in the league standings, seven-games out of first place.

“We’re kind of failing in all aspects of the game, which we’ve got to fix,” said Docs coach Jeremiah Robbins. “The good thing is we’re still in the mix to extend our season. We’re behind the eight-ball a little bit right now. We’ve got work to do.”

The Docs (17-15; 6-10 Area 4) currently hold the final post season berth out of Area 4 with only four league games left to play. They’re only have a one-game lead on Grants Pass and are now two-games behind Medford, which swept last place Klamath Falls on Tuesday.

Eugene (25-10; 12-2) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one and jumped ahead 6-0 in the third. Docs starter Drake Borschowa hit three batters in the inning and allowed three hits, leading to the big inning to put the Challengers comfortably in front.

The Docs rallied by hitting four straight singles to begin the fourth inning, leading to three runs. Jace Stoffal, Borschowa, and Sam Guasteferro all drove in runs.

Dr. Stewart’s added two runs on two errors in the sixth inning to get within 6-5, but Eugene tacked on a run to its total in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Docs at bay.

Eugene got on the board first in game two with a run in the second inning and two more in the third off starter Cade Meisner.

Dr. Stewart’s managed to fight back into the contest and tie the game at 3-3 thanks to four errors by the Challengers. All three Docs runs were unearned.

Yet, once again, just as the Docs were building some momentum, they gave it right back. Eugene retook the lead for good with two runs in the sixth off of reliever Austin Anderson.

“I think these guys maybe put a little too much pressure on (themselves),” Robbins said as he tried to evaluate what’s been plaguing the Docs, who have lost six of their last seven games. “When you’re playing with too much pressure, you’re trying to get rid of a losing streak, it’s not going to be a good recipe instead of just playing good, straight-up baseball.”

The Docs are scheduled to play against the Post 6 Barbers on Wednesday at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, home of the Class A short season affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The single, nine-inning non-league contest gets underway at 5 p.m.

NOTE: The Doc’s have changed Friday’s doubleheader against the Barbers to a single, nine-inning contest at 5 p.m. at Legion Field. Saturday’s doubleheader against the Lewiston (ID) Twins has also moved to a noon start time for game one.


First game

Roseburg 000 302 0 — 5 8 2

Eugene 105 001 X — 7 7 3

Borschowa, Cody Johnson (4) and Guasteferro; Burnett, Allen (7) and Jones. WP — Burnett, 5-2. LP — Borschowa, 3-2. SV — Allen, 2. 2B — Van Norman (R), Edwards (E).

Second game

Roseburg 000 012 0 — 3 3 0

Eugene 012 002 X — 5 7 4

Meisner, Anderson (5) and Six; Parks, Lund (7) and Woodcook. WP — Parks, 4-0. LP — Anderson, 1-1. SV — Lund, 1. 2B — Lund (E), Woodcook 2 (E), Willkinson 2 (E).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.
You need to agree with the terms to proceed