UCC baseball comes back twice to sweep Clackamas
The Umpqua Riverhawks baseball team made a move into second place in the South Region standings after a pair of comeback league victories against Clackamas on Thursday at Bill Gray Legion Stadium at Champion Car Wash Field.
Umpqua earned a 3-2 win in 10 innings to open the doubleheader and then scored seven runs late in Game 2 to knock off the Cougars with a 7-3 victory.
“They really fought through the ups and downs, some ugly stuff there, but the big piece we’ve been working on as a group is being resilient and being great teammates and I think they’ve done that for the past couple of weeks,” Umpqua coach Jake Whisler said.
The Riverhawks pulled within six-games of league-leading Linn-Benton with half their league schedule still to play. UCC travels to Oregon City for a doubleheader against Clackams on Saturday to finish the six-game season series with the Cougars.
“Those are huge,” Whisler said of the upcoming games. “The grittier team is going to win the series. That’s the deal with the southern division this year. The teams that focus and play hard are the teams that come out on top. So, we’ve got be able to be that team.”
Umpqua (13-15, 10-8 South Region) overcame adversity in Game 1. The Riverhawks rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the top half of the fourth inning by scoring twice in the home half to grab a 2-1 advantage. Jackson Thomsen and Tristan Schaefer came through with two-out RBI singles to push UCC ahead.
The Riverhawks remained in front through eight innings thanks to a solid relief appearance by Tristan Ledbetter, who allowed just one hit over three shutout innings. Hunter Robinson took over in the ninth needing just three outs to pick up a save, but allowed the first two batters to reach base.
Whisler elected to intentionally walk the bases loaded with one out, hoping to lead to a double-play to end the game, but Robinson proceeded to miss on four straight pitches to walk Luke Kovac and bring home the game-tying run. Robinson’s very next pitch resulted in a double-play that kept the game tied.
Zane Bidwell led off the 10th inning with a single and a throwing error later got him to third base. With no outs, Payton Smith was able to drive in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Riverhawks struggled early in Game 2 against Clackamas starter Sebastian Laddusaw. The sophomore allowed just one hit over the first four innings, while his teammates built a 3-0 lead.
Trouble popped up for Laddusaw in the fifth. UCC’s first two batters reached base and a sacrifice bunt put both in scoring position for Carson Dunn, who got the ‘Hawks on the board with a sac fly.
It was Dunn who came through in the clutch again in the seventh to put UCC ahead for good. Noah Cox and Trevor Ratliff had already driven in runs to tie the game when Dunn sent a ball to the wall in right-center field to score Ratliff and put Umpqua ahead 4-3. Dunn was credited with a triple, but tried to score an inside-the-park home run and was narrowly beaten to the plate on the relay throw by second baseman Joey Giancola.
The Riverhawks added three more runs in the eighth inning to pad the lead for reliever Brevin Harrison, who threw the final three innings without giving up a run or a hit to earn his first win of the season.
“I really liked what our bullpen did today in both games,” Whisler said, highlighting the efforts of Ledbetter, Robinson and Harrison. “Those were awesome outings for those guys. Young guys who are getting opportunities in big situations and coming through for us.”
Bryson Glassco was the only batter for Clackamas (8-14, 8-14 South Region) to have multiple hits between the two games. The top hitter in the NWAC (.519 average) was 0-for-2 in Game 1, but bounced-back going 2-for-4 in the nightcap. The Cougars drew 13 walks between the two games, but also struck out a total of 21 times.
Dunn was 3-for-6 with a triple and two RBI’s on the day to lead Umpqua at the plate. Bidwell also had three hits between the two games, including a run-scoring double.
First Game
Clackamas;000;100;001;0;—;2;2;3
Umpqua;000;200;000;1;—;3;8;0
Tordiffe, DeBisschop (7), Lucas (10) and Goth; Coffman, Ledbetter (6), H. Robinson (9) and Robbins. W — H. Robinson (3-2). L — Lucas (0-3).
Second Game
Clackamas;020;100;000;—;3;4;4
Umpqua;000;010;33X;—;7;8;4
Laddusaw, Beamer (8), Young (9) and Massie; Lennartson, Harrison (7) and Strother. W — Harrison (1-2). L — Laddusaw (3-3). 2B — Eaton (C), O’Malley (U). 3B — Dunn (U).
