A solid combination of pitching and hitting sparked the Pacific University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep over Lewis & Clark on Saturday afternoon. The Boxers (11-12, 6-11 NWC) blanked the Pios (4-18, 3-9 NWC), 4-0 and 10-0 respectively.
Starting pitchers Spencer Backstrom (Bellingham, Wash.) in game one and Paul Wolfram (Las Vegas, Nev.) not only kept Lewis & Clark off the scoreboard but held the to two and one hits, respectively. Backstrom pitched six innings of two-hit baseball and struck out nine to improve to 3-1 in the opener. Wolfram, in a complete game, limited the Pios to a second inning single and struck out a career-high 10 batters to even his record at 3-3.
In game one, the Boxers broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead. To start the inning, Kurtis Kloke (San Bernardino, Calif.) hit a ground-rule double; then he came in when Dylan Wright (Gilbert, Ariz.) tripled down the right-field line to put Pacific ahead 1-0. Next, the Boxers scored their second run of the inning when Lewis & Clark misplayed a ball hit by Josh Keithly (Mission Viejo, Calif.), scoring Wright. Then, Luke Peevyhouse (Phoenix, Ariz.) doubled to the gap in right-center field to put runners on second and third. Next, Dustin Meyer (Silverton, Ore.) brought in Keithly with a single to stretch the lead to 3-0.
The Boxers added another run in the sixth inning on a RBI ground out by Keithly. Earlier in the inning, Kloke doubled for the second-straight inning, then he moved to third on a bunt single by Wright.
Six-different Boxers had a hit in the win including two each from Kloke and Wright with Keithly picking up a pair of RBI in the win.
Connor Sick for Lewis & Clark accounted for three of the four hits in the loss. The Pios had a threat erased in the first inning when Sick was thrown out trying to steal home. Plus, they mounted a threat in the sixth before the Boxers turned a double play to end the threat.
The Boxers look to complete the series sweep of Lewis & Clark on Sunday at noon at Porter Park on the campus of Concordia University.
BOXER BUZZ | Baseball Highlights vs. Lewis & Clark (Mar. 25)