UCC sweeps SWOCC to keep league title hopes alive
COOS BAY — The Umpqua Riverhawks kept their hopes of winning the NWAC South Region baseball title alive with a pair of league wins at Southwestern Oregon on Saturday.
Ninth-ranked Umpqua held off a late comeback effort from No. 10 SWOCC to win 7-5 in the first game of a doubleheader and AJ Victoravich pitched a complete game to lead UCC to a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
The Riverhawks are three games behind first place Linn-Benton in the South Region standings. Umpqua will play four games against the Roadrunners this week to finish the regular season.
Aidan O’Malley finished with four hits on the day for Umpqua (23-19, 20-12 South). Zane Bidwell and Jeremiah Robbins both had three hits in the doubleheader.
The UCC offense provided plenty of support in Game 1 for starting pitcher Logan Robinson, who made his return from injury after missing the entire month of April.
A triple by Payton Smith put Umpqua ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Jackson Thomsen made it 3-0 with a single in the fourth and then scored on a two-run single by O’Malley that put the ‘Hawks ahead 5-0.
O’Malley scored an unearned run on a wild pitch to cap off the five-run fourth inning and Umpqua tacked on another unearned run in the sixth to lead 7-0.
Robinson pitched well for six innings before the Lakers finally broke through with five runs in the seventh. The sophomore had four strikeouts, three walks and six hits allowed over 6 2/3 innings.
The bullpen got the Riverhawks through the rest of the game with Teague Van Dyke picking up his first save of the year. He had three strikeouts over two hitless innings.
Southwestern Oregon (22-19, 17-14) again found itself trailing early in Game 2. Starting pitcher Armaan Drar was touched up for five runs in three innings.
A bases-loaded groundout by Thomsen started the scoring in the second inning and Carson Dunn drove in another run to put UCC ahead 2-0.
Ryson Wa’alani made it 4-0 in the third inning on a two-run single and Dunn added another RBI with a sacrifice fly to grow the lead to 5-0.
Bidwell and Dunn added RBIs in the fourth and seventh, respectively, to cap off UCC’s scoring.
The offense was more than enough for Victoravich, who allowed one run on eight hits over seven innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk as he picked up his fourth win of the season.
Umpqua hosts Linn-Benton for its final home doubleheader of the regular season on Thursday and the Riverhawks will end the regular season with a twin bill at LBCC Saturday in Albany.
First Game
Umpqua 100 501 000 — 7 9 2
SWOCC 000 000 500 — 5 7 2
L. Robinson, Kanakis (7), Van Dyke and Robbins; Lester, Picillo (5) and Iniguez, Long. W — L. Robinson (3-3). L — Lester (5-5). SV — Van Dyke (1). 2B — O’Malley (UCC), Cox (UCC), Okimoto (SWOCC). 3B — Smith (UCC).
Second Game
Umpqua 023 100 1 — 7 11 0
SWOCC 000 001 0 — 1 8 2
Victoravich and Robbins; Drar, Kabua (4) and Long. W — Victoravich (4-0). L — Drar (6-2). 2B — O’Malley (UCC), Dunn (UCC), Benedictson (SWOCC). 3B — Benedictson (SWOCC).
