Linn-Benton Clinches South Title on Sophomore Day

ALBANY, Ore. - The Linn-Benton baseball team secured the NWAC south region championship in front of friends and family as they honored eleven sophomores playing their final home games at Dick McClain Field. The Roadrunners (34-8, 26-8 NWAC South) dropped their first game 12-2 in eight innings against the Saints of Mt. Hood Community College, before earning a 7-3 victory in the second game.

Game 1: Linn-Benton opened the game with Aiden Hazen reaching base on a defensive error that allowed Mark Carpenter to score making it 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Mt. Hood (23-19, 17-17 NWAC South) would take the lead in the top of second, scoring two runs, before the Roadrunners tied it up 2-2 in the bottom of the second on a Matthew Talbot RBI single that scored Landon Lea.

The Saints were able to score two runs in both the fourth and fifth inning to take a 6-2 advantage that was too much for the hosts to overcome. The visitors used a big sixth inning, scoring six runs to put the game out of reach and won 12-2 in eight innings.

Game 2: The Roadrunners would get the scoring started in the second contest, as Boston Caron reached base on a defensive error that scored Carpenter in the bottom of the second inning to make it 1-0. The Saints answered back in the fourth inning with a pair of runs to take the lead, but this time it was the hosts that would take command of the game late. 

Jack Lussier's RBI single in the sixth inning with the bases loaded allowed Jackson Fera and Kellen Segel to score, giving Linn-Benton a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the eighth the Roadrunner bats came alive, as a Segel RBI double scored Fera, followed by an RBI double from Caron to score Segel. With two runners on base, Bryant Starr's triple cleared the bases as it sent Caron and Lussier across the plate to make it 7-2. 

The Saints managed to get a run back in the top of the ninth inning but pitcher Dominic Daffron's strike out of Mt. Hood's Kyle Slater sealed the victory for the Roadrunners 7-3. Daffron picked up the pitching victory after four strong innings of relief.

The victory allowed Linn-Benton to claim the south region title and secure the top seed out of the south for the upcoming NWAC Championships. The Roadrunners will travel north to face Mt. Hood in their regular season finale on Saturday, May 9 with first pitch scheduled for 1:00PM and 4:00PM.