Roseburg baseball salvages split with Willamette in SWC doubleheader

The Roseburg bats came alive in the nightcap of a Southwest Conference doubleheader against Willamette on Saturday at Bill Gray Legion Stadium at Champion Car Wash Field and the Indians salvaged a split with the Wolverines in a rain-soaked affair.

The Wolverines (10-4, 6-2 SWC) shut out Roseburg (8-7, 5-3) 5-0 in the opener behind a complete-game performance from freshman Mason Christian. The Indians rebounded for an 8-5 win behind Brevin Harrison in Game 2.

“Good job by the kids to respond in Game 2,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said. “Once again, we’ve talked about it before. When you lose Game 1, the best you can hope for is a split. So we’ll take that.”

Christian allowed just two hits over his seven innings. The lengthy right-hander struck out six and walked three.

Willamette took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a groundout by Joey Garboden, scoring Myles Cox who led off the game with a single.

Garboden and Jacey Roberts both had doubles in the fourth inning and the Wolverines capitalized on three walks by Roseburg starter Jake Johnson to pull ahead 4-0.

Johnson gave up an unearned run in the sixth before exiting the game. He finished with six strikeouts and three walks.

The Indians left six men on base, including three runners at third.

Game 2 started late after about a 30-minute rain delay and was halted in the third inning for another half hour due to a lightning strike in the area.

Neither delay slowed down the Indians, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a pair of throwing errors by Willamette pitcher Jackson Doughty.

Roseburg tacked on another run in the fourth on a third throwing error by Doughty and plated three runs in the sixth to lead 8-1. Brooks Avery drove in a pair on a triple to right field and Paxton Burke scored Avery on a two-out single.

Those runs proved important. Dane St. Clair relieved Harrison and promptly walked the first three batters of the seventh inning. A double by Cox brought home two and Roberts got an RBI with a single, but St. Clair settled in and finished off the win on a comebacker to the mound.

Harrison battled through the weather delays to earn his third win of the season, allowing just one run on six hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Roseburg remains one game behind Willamette for first place in the Southwest Conference standings.

The Indians are scheduled to host North Medford at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Champion Car Wash Field.

First Game

Willamette 1003010 — 5 6 1

Roseburg 0000000 — 0 2 2

Christian and Roberts; Johnson, Hartsell (7) and Burke. W — Christian. L — Johnson (3-3). 2B — Garboden (W), Roberts (W).

Second Game

Willamette 0000104 — 5 8 3

Roseburg 400103X — 8 6 0

Doughty, Grandberry (6) and Evans; Harrison, St. Clair (7) and Burke. W — Harrison (3-2). L — Doughty. 2B — Cox (W). 3B — Avery (R), St. Clair (R).