College Baseball: Walk-off bunt leads Umpqua to sweep of Clackamas
With just a couple of weeks remaining in the regular season, the Umpqua Community College baseball team is battling for playoff positioning in the South Region and couldn’t afford to let a pair of games against last-place Clackamas slip away on Wednesday at Champion Car Wash Field.
The Riverhawks caplitalized on their chances and secured a sweep of the Cougars with a 3-0 victory in Game 1 and a walk-off 3-2 win in the nightcap.
“It’s huge,” Umpqua coach Jake Whisler said of the sweep. “It’s tough to win in this league and those were two gritty wins.
“We’re coming down the stretch of the season and we’ve got some games to make up. We’re chasing what we want and to be able to get that we’ve got to put wins together, however they may come.”
Freshman right-hander Beau Ramsey tossed seven shutout innings to lead UCC to a win in the opener. The Middleton, Idaho, native scattered seven hits and walked just one, while striking out seven to earn his seventh victory of the year.
“(Ramsey) does the right thing, all the time and it shows with his competitiveness on the mound with multiple pitches and he’s grown throughout this season and has gotten better, so it’s really great to see with him,” Whisler said.
The Riverhawks had three double plays in the game defensively in support of Ramsey. The offense also came through with a tactical approach, driving in a pair of runs on sacrifice flies by Taylor Davis and Noah Kiley.
Davis scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch in the first inning against Clackamas starter Blake DeBisschop, who allowed just two runs on three hits over six innings. DeBisschop also struck out five, but two walks and three hit batters helped the Riverhawks get runners on base.
Kevin Semm and Aaron Menchaca both had two hits in the game for Clackamas, but the Cougars left five runners stranded on base.
Clackamas (7-22, 6-20 South) rallied to tie the score twice in Game 2, but its efforts fell short as the Riverhawks walked-off with a win on a bunt by Aiden Metzker.
The Cougars tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Menchaca and evened the score again in the ninth on a two-out single by Jackson Poole.
Despite taking the lead twice in the contest, UCC was forced to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Shiloh Wilson capped a three-hit game with a one-out double off of Semm to put the winning run in scoring position.
Tristan Schaefer followed with his second infield single to put runners at the corners and set the stage for Metzker. The sophomore placed a bunt down the first base line, which was fielded by Semm but he was unable to get a throw to the plate before Wilson scored the winning run.
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“That’s Metzker’s trick play,” Whisler said of the squeeze bunt to win the game. “It’s cool the offense was able to pick the team up after kind of a gut punch there in that last inning.”
The wins move the Riverhawks (21-11, 17-9 South) within one game of second place Lane (27-11, 17-7) with 10 league games left to play, including four against the Titans.
A second place finish would mean Umpqua hosts a Super Regional, whereas a third or fourth place finish in the South Region would result in the Riverhawks traveling to a Super Regional.
Umpqua still has an outside chance at winning the South Region title and earning an automatic berth in the NWAC Tournament, but the Riverhawks trail Linn-Benton by four games and will need some help to surpass the Roadrunners.
Umpqua and Clackamas will finish out their six-game season series with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.
First Game
Clackamas;000;000;000;—;0;8;1
Umpqua;100;001;10X;—;3;5;0
DeBisschop, Keeney (7) and Goth; Ramsey, Miller (8) and Robbins. W — Ramsey (7-1). L — DeBisschop (1-4). SV — Miller (2). 2B — Davis (UCC), Robbins (UCC).
Second Game
Clackamas;000;100;001;—;2;6;1
Umpqua;001;000;101;—;3;11;1
Kiserow, Stofflet (7), Lippa (8), Semm (9) and Silvis; Hartsell, Lucas (7), Jackson (9) and Robbins. W — Jackson (1-2). L — Semm (0-1). 2B — Kuhnert (UCC), Ratliff (UCC), Wilson (UCC). 3B — Wilson (UCC).
