College Baseball: Umpqua splits with Chemeketa after marathon doubleheader
The Umpqua Riverhawks mustered just one run over 22 innings in a South Region baseball doubleheader against Chemeketa on Thursday at Champion Car Wash Field, but that one run was enough to earn UCC a split with the Storm.
Chemeketa’s Jack Klee tossed a complete-game shutout against Umpqua in a 3-0 win to begin the twin bill.
Umpqua evened the series in Game 2 when Caden Kuhnert drove home the winning run in a 1-0 13-inning victory for the Riverhawks.
“It’s not going to be an easy out no matter who you are playing in this league. That’s the message we’ve been giving to our guys,” Umpqua coach Jake Whisler said. “But absolutely, you’re always happy to get out with a split.”
The lack of scoring for Umpqua (8-4, 4-2 South) wasn’t due to a shortage in chances. UCC was 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position over the two games, including going 1-for-15 in the scheduled seven-inning nightcap.
The Riverhawks got a runner into scoring position in each of the first six innings in Game 2 and left 11 men stranded. The trend continued into extra innings, with men left on second base in the ninth and 11th innings.
Chemeketa’s Julius Bolstad was sharp out of the bullpen, but started to run out of gas after pitching 6 1/3 innings. The Phoenix, Oregon, native walked the first two hitters in the 13th inning and a sacrifice bunt by Ben Allen put both runners in scoring position.
The Storm went to Liam Petty out of the bullpen in hopes of keeping the game scoreless. The infield was brought in to provide a better chance of throwing a runner out at home, but Kuhnert smacked a high bounding ground ball up the middle that snuck into center field and scored Tristan Schaefer to win the game.
🔥 Walk-off winner for the Riverhawks! Freshman Caden Kuhnert (@_cadenkuhnert) slaps one back up the middle to win it 1-0 in 13 innings.
🎙️ @joeykeeran @Umpqua_Baseball@uccriverhawks pic.twitter.com/HuWqIj1MBD
— PNW College Baseball Report (@PNW_CBR) March 6, 2026
“When you don’t make adjustments at the plate at any level you’re going to struggle and we didn’t do that at all today,” Whisler said. “We had multiple opportunities and made the same mistakes over and over again.”
Bayden Morris got the win with two innings of scoreless relief. The freshman from Grants Pass followed scoreless outings by Camden Hartsell and Jayden Lucas.
Hartsell started and allowed just one hit over six innings. Lucas tossed five innings of relief and gave up just two hits. The duo combined for eight strikeouts.
“What we did on the mound, for the most part, was pretty special today,” Whisler said.
Klee was the star in Game 1. Chemeketa’s starter allowed just three hits over nine scoreless innings, with eight strikeouts and just one walk. The Beaverton native allowed just one baserunner over the final five innings and had a streak of 13 straight batters retired from the fourth inning into the eighth.
Chemeketa (3-13, 2-4) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning against UCC starter Beau Ramsey. Liam Irish started the game with a single and scored on a double by Kyle Sheller, who later scored on a wild pitch.
Ramsey settled in to retire the next 12 batters, but the Storm tacked on another run on a RBI single by Joe Vaccaro in the fifth.
Petty and Vaccaro both had a pair of hits in the opener. Slater Tsuma and Dylan Cuff had two hits each for Chemeketa in Game 2.
Shiloh Wilson led UCC at the plate by going 3-for-8 in the twin bill. Aiden Metzker reached base five times in eight plate appearances.
Up next for Umpqua will be a league doubleheader against Clackamas on Wednesday. Game 1 is slated to begin at noon at Champion Car Wash Field.
First Game
Chemeketa;200;010;000;—;3;6;0
Umpqua;000;000;000;—;0;3;0
Klee and Hooper; Ramsey, Miller (7) and Robbins. W — Klee (1-0). L — Ramsey (1-1). 2B — Sheller (C), Tsuma (C).
Second Game
Chemeketa;000;000;000;000;0;—;0;5;2
Umpqua;000;000;000;000;1;—;1;7;1
Daravivanh, Bolstad (7), Petty (13) and Sheldon, Hooper; Hartsell, Lucas (7), Morris (12) and Allen. W — Morris (3-0). L — Bolstad (0-3).
