College Baseball: Umpqua splits a league twin bill at Mt. Hood
GRESHAM — The Umpqua Riverhawks started Wednesday’s doubleheader against Mt. Hood Community College knowing they’ll be in the NWAC postseason when the regular season wraps up in less than two weeks, but seeding in the South Region remains up for grabs after UCC and the Saints split their midweek matchup.
Umpqua (22-14, 18-12 South Region) outlasted Mt. Hood (22-16, 16-14) for a 3-2 win in the opener. The Saints rebounded to take the nightcap 7-2.
UCC remained in third place in the South Region after splitting the twin bill but, with six league games remaining, the Riverhawks could still win the league title or finish fourth.
“This is the most important month of our season,” Umpqua coach Jake Whisler said about the upcoming schedule. “We’ll see if we can’t play some better baseball down this last little stretch to push us over the top.”
The South Region champion earns an automatic berth in the NWAC Tournament, held May 21-26 at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington. The second, third and fourth place teams have to win a Super Regional tournament to earn a spot in the conference tourney.
The second place team gets to host the 3-team Super Regional, while the third and fourth place teams have to go on the road.
“To be able to host the regional at home is a big advantage,” Whisler said. “You’re not playing in an elimination game. If you go on the road (to a regional) you’re playing a one-and-done to see who plays the host team. We’ve been in that situation before and it’s tough.”
Umpqua started Wednesday with another strong performance on the mound by freshman Beau Ramsey. The right-hander tossed six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Ramsey earned his eighth win of the season, tied for the second most for a pitcher in the conference.
Tyler Miller closed out the game to pick up his third save of the year. He allowed pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk.
“For two freshmen arms to do what they do consistently, it’s pretty impressive,” Whisler said about Ramsey and Miller. “They just compete in the strike zone with multiple pitches. If you’re able to do that in this league, you’re going to have success.”
Mt. Hood took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an unearned run against Ramsey, but the Riverhawks rallied with three runs in the sixth against Saints’ starter Nolan McCormack.
A throwing error brought home a run for UCC and tied the game at 1-1 and Shiloh Wilson gave the Riverhawks the lead with a two-out, two-run single.
The Saints got a run back in the bottom of the sixth and had the game-tying run in scoring position twice over the final three innings, but failed to even up the score.
Mt. Hood jumped out to a 2-0 lead through two innings against Camden Hartsell in Game 2. The Riverhawks went to the bullpen early, but fell even farther behind when the Saints plated three more runs in the fourth.
Trevor Ratliff homered in the fifth to get UCC a run and Taylor Davis singled in a run in the sixth, but the deficit was too much to overcome against Mt. Hood starter Brayden Sievertsen, who pitched seven innings and allowed six hits with five strikeouts.
Ratliff was 3-for-9 on the day, while Schaefer led the Umpqua offense going 4-for-8.
Hunter Allen was 3-for-7 with two RBIs and Adam Elliot was 3-for-8 with two runs scored to lead Mt. Hood.
The Saints will head to Roseburg for a doubleheader against Umpqua at noon on Saturday at Champion Car Wash Field.
First Game
Umpqua;000;003;000;—;3;9;2
Mt. Hood;010;001;000;—;2;7;1
Ramsey, Miller (7) and Robbins; McCormack, Green (7) and Allen. W — Ramsey (8-1). L — McCormack (6-2).
Second Game
Umpqua;000;011;000;—;2;6;1
Mt. Hood;110;302;00X;—;7;10;1
Hartsell, Lucas (3), Hellenthal (5), Morris (8) and Robbins; Sievertsen, Scott (8), Jackson (9) and Allen. W — Sieverstsen (5-2). L — Hartsell (2-2). 2B — Schaefer (U), Slater (M.H.), Richards (M.H.), Kumagami (M.H.), Allen (M.H.). HR — Ratliff (U), Slater (M.H.).
