Prep Baseball: Willamette sweeps Roseburg, takes season series
EUGENE — A short-handed Roseburg Indians baseball team lost a pair of Southwest Conference games against league-leader Willamette on Saturday at Floyd Ogden Field at Willamette High School.
The Wolverines overpowered Roseburg for a 10-0 win in five innings to begin the doubleheader and Will-Hi rallied late for an 8-3 victory in the nightcap.
The losses dropped Roseburg (12-10, 8-7 SWC) to fifth in the Southwest Conference standings with three league games left to play. The Indians will square off with North Medford for three games this week, starting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jim McAbee Field in Medford.
Roseburg mustered just two hits in the opener against Willamette starter Mason Christian. Ryland Glasser had a two-out single in the third inning to give the Indians their first base runner of the game, but was left stranded at first.
Fletcher Coleman singled to start the fourth inning and got to second base on a wild pitch, but Christian struck out the next three batters to squash the threat. Mason Young walked in the fifth inning, but didn’t make it beyond first base.
Christian finished with nine strikeouts over the five-inning shutout.
The Indians committed a pair of errors that helped Willamette (15-8, 12-3) push across four runs in the first inning against Coleman. Landon Cook had a double that drove in a pair of runs.
The Wolverines tacked on three more to stretch the lead to 7-0 in the third inning. Brodie Butler plated a pair with a one-out single and Zeke Thomas added another on a two-out single.
Coleman took the loss, allowing five hits over three innings with four walks, one strike out and one hit batter.
Willamette scored three times in the fifth to reach the 10-run advantage and end the game early.
The Indians turned to sophomore Greyson Coate to start Game 2 in place of usual starter Christian Korba. An illness kept Korba, Roseburg’s starting center fielder and third starting pitcher, out of practice and at home for the twin bill.
Coate took a no-hitter into the third inning and managed to pitch around four hit batters in the first two frames.
Roseburg’s offense provided a lift with a pair of runs in the first inning against Brady Barry. A wild pitch scored the first run and AJ Black added another on an RBI single. Coleman made it 3-0 in the second inning on a sacrifice fly.
Willamette’s bats woke up in the third for a pair of runs. A throwing error helped the Wolverines score in the frame. Will-Hi tied the game in the fourth on a squeeze bunt by Jackson Doughty. The senior placed a bunt back to the mound where Coate fielded and threw home in time, but the ball popped out of the glove of Amos Bowers as he applied the tag on the runner.
The comeback hit a crescendo in the fifth when the Wolverines tacked on five runs on five hits, two walks and an error to break the game open.
Roseburg’s lineup struggled throughout the day with 21 strikeouts over 14 innings. The Indians also gave Willamette numerous extra or free chances with nine walks, six hit batters and six errors.
First Game
Roseburg;000;00;—;0;2;3
Willamette;403;03;—;10;8;0
Coleman, Popken (4) and Bowers; Christian and Doughty. W — Christian. L — Coleman (1-3). 2B — Cook (W).
Second Game
Roseburg;210;000;0;—;3;7;3
Willamette;002;150;X;—;8;8;0
Coate, Cheney (5), Popken (5) and Bowers; Barry, Wright (2), Robbins (6) and Doughty. W — Wright. L — Coate (0-1). 2B — Burke (R), Wertz (R), Cook (W).
