Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

FOREST GROVE – Willamette succeeded in getting to Pacific pitching early as well as keeping the Boxers off the bases Saturday, completing a doubleheader sweep of the Boxers in Northwest Conference baseball action at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.

In the battle of the conference's phenom sophomore hurlers, Willamette's Brandon Simon threw a complete game three hitter and got the best of Pacific's Rob Dittrick (So., Mililani, Hawaii) to win the opener 5-0. The Bearcats then hung a pair of three-run innings on Pacific's Jason Sawyer (Fr., Scappoose, Ore.) and held off a late rally by the home team to win the nightcap 6-3.

With the wins, Willamette improved to 11-12 overall and 6-8 in NWC contests. Pacific dropped to 14-10-1 overall, 8-6 NWC.

Kevin Schwartz's (Jr., Milwaukie, Ore.) double in the first was the only extra base hit Simon allowed and Schwartz was the only runner Willamette allowed past first base in the opener. Improving to 4-2 on the season, Simon allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out three. He faced just four batters over the minimum.

It took a while for the Bearcats to get to the solid Dittrick, who took his first loss in his last seven outings. T.C. Lee opened scoring in the three-run fifth when his double to left center field scored Adam Reid. Tosh Semlacher added two more with a long single to center field that scored Lee and Doug Bloom. Willamette added one more run in the eighth when Tim Schilf doubled and later scored on a ground out.

Dittrick dropped to 6-2 with the loss. In eight innings, he allowed five runs on 11 hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Reid and Lee each went 3 for 5 for the Bearcats, with Lee contributing two runs batted in. Schwartz finished with two of the Boxers' three hits.

In the second game, starting pitchers Sawyer and Blake Paisley kept runners off the bases until Willamette broke it open in the fourth. With one out, Lee and Max Stepan singled, and a balk assessed to Sawyer moved both runners into scoring position. Semlacher followed with a single up the middle that scored both runners, and he later scored on a single by Tommy Kawamura.

Stepan opened the three-run sixth with a triple to right center field and scored when Semlacher singled to center. Brandon Chinn reached first on a Pacific error, and Kawamura followed with a two-run single that plated both Semlacher and Chinn.

Mike Nagamine (Jr., Aiea, Hawaii) accounted for Pacific's first run of the day, singling to open the seventh and scoring on Nate Rasmussen's (Jr., Sandy, Utah) double to right center field. Logan Moen (So., Brier, Wash.) and Nick Tasaka (So., Hawaii Kai, Hawaii) singled to open the Boxers' two-run eighth. Moen scored on a single by Jared Van Hoon (Jr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) and Tasaka plated on Rasmussen's second double of the day.

Pacific appeared to have the makings of a rally in the ninth when Scott Rowland (Sr., Salem, Ore.) hit a long fly ball to center field that appeared to drop just below the outstretched glove of Willamette center fielder Tyson Giza. Umpires ruled that Giza had in fact made the catch, and the Bearcats went on to close out the ninth.

Paisley improved to 3-1 with the victory, allowing one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts in seven innings. Ryan Smith earned his second save of the year, allowing one hit and one walk in the final inning-and-a-third. Sawyer dropped to 3-3 with the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits with a walk and six strikeouts in five innings. Dustin Christensen (Fr., Riverton, Utah) pitched four innings of effective relief, allowing one unearned run on three hits with two strikeouts.

Rasmussen went 2 for 4 to lead the Boxers, with two doubles and two runs batted in. Kawamura led Willamette by going 3 for 4 with three runs batted in.

Pacific and Willamette will complete their three-game series on Sunday at Chuck Bafaro Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for noon.