FOREST GROVE – A complete game performance by pitcher Rob Dittrick (So., Mililani, Hawaii) and a clutch two-out single by Kevin Schwartz (Jr., Milwaukie, Ore.) allowed the Boxers to sweep a doubleheader from Lewis & Clark Saturday in both club's'Northwest Conference baseball openers at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.
Dittrick went the distance in the opener, allowing two runs on 12 hits with nine strikeouts and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth to complete a 5-2 victory. In the nightcap saw the Boxers rally from four runs down to set up Schwartz for a two-RBI single off the third base bag with two outs in the ninth for the 7-6 come-from-behind win.
Jared Van Hoon (Jr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) led Pacific at the plate for the twinbill, finishing with five hits. He went 3 for 4 in the nightcap along with earning the pitching win in relief. Nate Rasmussen (Jr., Sandy, Utah) had three hits and four other Boxers finished two hits apiece. Giuseppe Baffaro and Michael Ball each had four hits to lead the Pioneers.
Pacific (6-3, 2-0 NWC) opened scoring in the first game in the second inning when Van Hoon singled and scored two batters later on Scott Rowland's (Sr., Salem, Ore.) single to left. Lewis & Clark tied it in the third when Tucker Laurence singled home Baffaro. The Boxers took the lead for good in the home half of the third. Nate Rasmussen singled to plate Travis Koon (Fr., Salem, Ore.) and Mike Nagamine (Jr., Aiea, Hawaii) came home thanks to a pair of throwing errors. Rowland made it a 4-1 game win the fourth hen he singled and scored on a Schwartz double to left.
The Pioneers (1-6, 0-2 NWC) halved the Pacific lead in the fifth when Baffaro singled and then scored on a long single to center field by Roland Greene. Trux French (So., Kennewick, Wash.) added one in the eight with a RBI single that scored Michael Arakaki (So., Mililani, Hawaii).
Lewis & Clark made their bid for the win in the ninth, loading the bases on a hit batter and singles by Ball and Greene. Dittrick ended the game by coaxing Sam Holman into a fly ball, completing the first complete game of his Pacific career to improve to 2-1 on the year. Eliot Smith dropped to 0-2 for the Pioneers, allowing four runs, three earned, on 10 hits with three walks and three strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Pacific converted a walk and an error into a two-run first inning to open the nightcap. Koon walked to open the inning and scored on a single by Rasmussen, who later came home on a throwing error. L&C starter Will King settled down from there, not allowing a Pacific runner past second for the next five innings.
The Pioneers got to young starter Jason Sawyer (Fr., Scappoose, Ore.) for four runs in the fifth. Three of the first four batters reached base, with Holman opening scoring on a ground out. Nick Lavin followed with a single to score Nate Grisham and Baffaro doubled two batters later to plate Lavin. Laurence capped the frame with a short single down the left field line to score Baffaro. L&C added two more in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Geoff Wertz and a double by Baffaro.
Van Hoon stemmed the tide for the Boxers on the mound from that point, allowing three hits over the final 3.2 innings. He also started the Pacific rally at the plate, scoring the first run of a two-run seventh with a RBI single that scored French. Arakaki reached on a walk and then scored on an error.
It was the Pioneers' third error of the game in the ninth, though, that proved the costliest. What appeared to be a sure double play ball hit by Arakaki rolled up the arm of second baseman Gianluca Giarizzo, allowing Van Hoon to narrow Pacific's deficit to 6-5. With the bases loaded two batters later, Schwartz hit the game-winning single down the left field line, the ball careening off the third base bag to allow the tying and winning runs home.
Van Hoon improved to 3-0 with the win, allowing three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. Ball took the hard luck loss for the Pioneers, falling to 0-1. He allowed three unearned runs on two hits with three walks and a strikeout in 1.2 innings.
The two teams will conclude their three-game series at Chuck Bafaro Stadium on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.