Roadrunners Split Regular Season Finale

GRESHAM, Ore. - Having claimed their ninth consecutive south region title, the Linn-Benton baseball team traveled to Mt. Hood for a pair of games to complete their regular season. The Roadrunners (35-9, 27-9 NWAC South) fell 4-3 in the first contest against Mt. Hood (24-20, 18-18 NWAC South) then rallied for a 13-8 win in their second contest.

Game 1: Both teams struggled to score early, but the Roadrunners got on the board in the top of the fifth inning, as a Noah Scharer RBI single scored Jacob Lindstrom. Bryant Starr's RBI single then scorned Seth Willy to make it 2-0 for the visitors. Mt. Hood got a run back on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh, but Aiden Hazen's eighth inning ground out scored Starr to make it 3-1.

Mt. Hood again scored in the bottom of the eighth inning making it 3-2, then in the bottom of the ninth the host Saints scored the tying and winning runs on a defensive error to claim the 4-3 victory.

Game 2: The seven inning contest saw plenty of offense, as the Roadrunners got things started in the top of the first inning with a Chanz Flores sacrifice fly to score Mark Carpenter, followed by a Nick Biagi RBI single scoring Jackson Fera and making it 2-0. The visitors would add another run in the third inning on an RBI single from Landon Lea to score Boston Caron. The Saints responded with three runs in the bottom of the second to even the score at 3-3.

A Biagi two-run home run in the third inning scored Flores to make it 5-3 for the Roadrunners, but the Saints again had an answer putting up four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-5 lead. Linn-Benton scored two runs in the seventh inning, as Caron would cross the plate on a defensive error, followed by a Carpenter RBI double to score Lea evening it at 7-7. Biagi's RBI single scored Camden Johnson to give Linn-Benton the lead, but the Saints forced extra innings as they scored in the bottom of the seventh inning making it 8-8. 

After a scoreless eighth, the Roadrunners put up five runs in the top of the ninth inning. Fera's RBI single scored Carpenter, then Biagi was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force Johnson across the plate. A Jack Lussier single would drive in Fera and Biagi, and Tyson McGrorty would finish off the inning scoring on a wild pitch to make it 13-8. Jake Johnson picked up the win with three strong innings in relief.

The Roadrunners will now have a week to prepare for the NWAC Championships held at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College. Final site action begins on Thursday, May 21. Linn-Benton will play game two of that day, as they will take on the winner of the East Super Regional. That contest is slated for a 12:35 PM first pitch.