Prep Baseball: Roseburg topples first place Willamette 4-3
A clutch two-out base hit from Brady Popken gave the Roseburg Indians a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 4-3 Southwest Conference victory over first place Willamette on Tuesday at Champion Car Wash Field.
The Wolverines scored in each of the first three innings to build a 3-0 lead, but the Indians rallied with four runs in the last of the third to comeback for the win.
“Good job by the kids to battle and play a very clean ball game. I’m proud of them and the way they responded after last week, to come out here and play well in this game today,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said.
Popken delivered the decisive blow with a two-out single that plated two runs and capped Roseburg’s comeback against Willamette starter Jackson Doughty.
“Good job by my teammates for getting on base and giving me the opportunity to try to hit it hard somewhere,” Popken said. “I saw the slider right out of the hand and just knew it was going right over the plate. Just stay within myself and hit a line drive.”
The senior isn’t in the lineup everyday, but Thompson said “he has good at bats every day at practice. He’s a good contact guy. He gets the barrel to the ball in practice and it bleeds over into the game.”
Roseburg (12-8, 8-5 SWC) got things going in the third with a one-out single by Paxton Burke. After a walk to Fletcher Coleman, Christian Kobra smacked an RBI single to left field to break the shutout.
Doughty struggled with finding the zone throughout the third inning. The senior issued four walks total, including a bases-loaded walk to Nick Ruiz that got the Indians within 3-2 and set the table for Popken’s big hit.
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Doughty didn’t finish the third and exited after allowing four runs on four hits with five walks and two strikeouts.
Brady Barry entered for Willamette (13-8, 10-3) and held Roseburg without a hit or a run over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Danner Wertz was able to match Barry and kept Willamette off the scoreboard over the final four innings. The sophomore was touched up for a run in each of the first three innings, but he was able to pitch around traffic as the game went on.
“Good performance by Danner Wertz today. Real gutty,” Thompson said. “(He) gave us a chance to get back in the ball game and, fortunately, offensively we were able to do that.”
“I was feeling good. I just had trust in my defense behind me to make plays and just relied on them,” Wertz said.
The Wolverines scored runs on two-out singles by Colin Robbins and Landon Cook and on a sacrifice fly by Doughty. Robbins finished the game three-for-four, but committed the final out with the game-tying run at third base.
The win keeps Roseburg’s hopes of defending its conference title alive. The Indians will head to Eugene on Saturday for a doubleheader against the Wolverines, who still lead the Southwest Conference standings by the slimmest of margins.
“It feels like we have a lot of momentum heading into the weekend and for the rest of the season,” Wertz said.
Saturday’s twin bill is slated to begin at noon.
Willamette;111;000;0;—;3;11;0
Roseburg;004;000;X;—;4;4;0
Doughty, Barry (3) and Robbins, Doughty; Wertz and Bowers. W — Wertz (5-2). L — Doughty. 2B — Thomas (W), Christian (W).
