Roadrunners Bid for Third Straight Title Comes Up Short
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lower Columbia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
|
Linn-Benton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
LONGVIEW, Wash. - The Linn-Benton baseball team entered Championship Monday looking to continue their recent trend of playing two games to win a title. The Roadrunners (38-11, 27-9 NWAC South) battled the elements and a tough Lower Columbia team, who used a late rally to secure a 5-1 win, ending the Roadrunner hopes of a third straight title.
The Red Devils (45-11, 22-2 NWAC West) were the designated visitors and got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the third inning. Linn-Benton responded in the bottom of the fourth inning as a Jackson Fera ground out allowed Chanz Flores to score and even the contest at 1-1.
Lower Columbia retook the lead in the top of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1, then got some insurance in the top of the ninth with three runs to make it 5-1. Linn-Benton were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth and finished in third place at the NWAC Championship.
Evan Lehnert had a strong outing on the mound, allowing just one run over five innings of work and striking out six Red Devil batters. Linn-Benton finishes their season with a ninth consecutive NWAC South Championship and their third consecutive appearance in Championship Monday.