College Baseball: Umpqua nearly no-hits Clackamas in doubleheader sweep
Continued strong pitching and some timely hitting led to the Umpqua Riverhawks sweeping the visiting Clackamas Cougars in a South Region doubleheader Wednesday at Champion Car Wash Field.
The Riverhawks opened with a 5-2 comeback win over the Cougars and finished the sweep with a 1-0 victory in Game 2.
“We’re really excited about the effort the guys had today,” Umpqua coach Jake Whisler said. “Obviously ugly at a lot of times of the game, but sometimes you’re going to have those doubleheaders and it’s the team that is able to withstand the ugliness and really finish the doubleheader strong that prevails in a lot of those situations. And we were that team today.”
Umpqua (10-4, 6-2 South Region) closed the day with a stellar performance by starting pitcher Camden Hartsell. The Roseburg native was just two outs away from throwing a 7-inning no-hitter, but had to settle for a shutout win with a season-high nine strikeouts.
Aaron Menchaca floated a soft line drive into shallow center field with one out in the seventh to break-up the no-hit bid. Hartsell faced one more batter before giving way to Josh Jackson out of the bullpen, who closed out the game to earn his second save of the season.
“I didn’t even really pay attention to it. I tried keeping it out of my head, not let that get to me,” Hartsell said about his no-hit effort. “I would definitely have loved for that to be hit a little farther and caught, but it’ll happen. It’s baseball. But it feels great. I mean, still six and a third scoreless, that’s all I can do.”
The outing was the longest of the season for Hartsell, but Whisler said the team was confident in the sophomore staying in the game with a tenuous 1-0 lead.
“We were more concerned about the pitch count, and so that’s what we were really looking at,” Whisler said. “So when he got to that spot, we wanted to make sure that we’re taking care of him number one.”
Hartsell walked the next batter after giving up his only hit of the day, putting the go-ahead runner at first base. Jackson took over and got an out on a fielder’s choice, but then walked the bases loaded.
Jackson recovered and finished the game with a strikeout.
“Having the tying run on third base, 90 feet away, and the go-ahead run at second, that’s a tight spot,” Whisler said. “But that’s the guy on our team who is going to be in those roles. So he (Jackson) did a good job of filling up the strike zone and getting us that second victory.”
The Riverhawks scored their only run of the game in the third on a two-out single by Taylor Davis. The hit snapped a four-game hitless streak for Davis, who started the season on a nine-game hitting streak. The freshman finished Game 2 with two of UCC’s four hits.
Umpqua had to rally in Game 1 and scored five runs over the final three innings to steal a victory.
Trevor Ratliff tied the game with a two-run pinch-hit single in the sixth inning. Tauj Flora later scored on a fielding error by Clackamas shortstop Luke Kovac to give UCC a 3-2 advantage.
Jackson Thomsen drove in a run in the seventh and another error allowed Ratliff to score in the eighth inning after leading off with a triple.
The run support helped earn Beau Ramsey a win after pitching six innings. The freshman allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Tyler Miller covered the final three innings out of the bullpen and held Clackamas (4-7, 3-5) scoreless. Miller allowed just two hits and one walk, while striking out four.
The Riverhawks finished with 12 hits on the day. Ratliff was 3-for-4 between both games with a triple, a double, two RBI’s and a run scored.
William Goth and Luke Kovac highlighted the day at the plate for Clackamas with a pair of hits each in the first game.
Up next, the Umpqua Riverhawks will host the Mt. Hood Saints for a South Region doubleheader starting at noon Saturday at Champion Car Wash Field.
First Game
Clackamas;000;101;000;—;2;7;2
Umpqua;000;003;11X;—;5;8;2
Kiserow, Stofflett (6), Lippa (8) and Goth; Ramsey, Miller (7) and Robbins. W — Ramsey (2-1). L — Kiserow (0-2). SV — Miller (1). 2B — Kuhnert (UCC), Robbins (UCC). 3B — Semm (CCC), Ratliff (UCC).
Second Game
Clackamas;000;000;0;—;0;1;1
Umpqua;001;000;X;—;1;4;0
Esmay, Semm (6) and Silvis, Goth; Hartsell, Jackson (7) and Allen. W — Hartsell (2-0). L — Esmay (0-2). SV — Jackson (2). 2B — Ratliff (UCC).
