Linn-Benton Earns Saturday Sweep of Umpqua

ALBANY, Ore. - The Linn-Benton baseball team came into their doubleheader with Umpqua Community College having hit four home runs in the first 28 games of the season. They matched that total in just two games against the Riverhawks (17-9, 13-7 NWAC South) in a pair of victories. Linn-Benton (24-4, 16-4 NWAC South) won the first game 7-2 then needed extra innings to win 4-3 in the second contest.

Game 1: The Roadrunners got off to a hot start thanks to a pair of two-run home runs from Boston Caron. Jackson Fera scored twice off of the Caron homers, one in the bottom of the second inning and the other in the fourth inning. In the fourth Seth Willy had a solo homer to push the hosts lead to 5-0. A Noah Scharer RBI single in the eighth scored Willy and then a sacrifice fly from Chanz Flores scored Jack Lussier to give the Roadrunners a 7-0 advantage.

Umpqua managed to score two runs in the top of the ninth inning before Mark Carpenter came in to record the final out. Starting pitcher Emmett Stacher had a terrific outing, going seven innings and allowing just three hits while striking out six.

Game 2: The visiting Riverhawks looked to turn the tables on the Roadrunners as they scored two runs in the top of the first inning in a game scheduled for seven innings. Linn-Benton was held at bay offensively for most of the contest until the bottom of the sixth inning as Scharer would record an RBI single to score Tyson McGrorty and leave the Roadrunners trailing by just one run. 

Down to their final out in the seventh inning, Carpenter stepped to the plate and smashed a solo home run to tie the game and send it to extra innings. The Riverhawks responded with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth, but Linn-Benton refused to go away. After a trio of walks to load the bases the Roadrunners were again down to their final out. Caron stepped to the plate and a wild pitch allowed Bryant Starr to score and runners Willy and Flores to advance to third and second base. A second wild pitch got by the catcher and allowed Willy to score for the game-winning run. 

Evan Lehnert earned the win in relief for the Roadrunners. Linn-Benton will next host the Cougars of Clackamas Community College on Wednesday, April 8. Both contests are scheduled for nine innings and start times of 1:00PM and 4:00PM at Dick McClain Field.