PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark bashed six home runs and scored multiple runs in six of their at-bats to earn a 16-3 game two victory, in a doubleheader split with visiting University of Puget Sound in their 2023 home opener at the Huston Sports Complex.

THE BASICS

Puget Sound 7, Lewis & Clark 2

Lewis & Clark 16, Puget Sound 3

(Lewis & Clark 14-6, Northwest Conference 6-5)

(Puget Sound 11-8, Northwest Conference 5-6) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

After the Pioneers struggled to get their offense going in game one, five different hitters hit home runs to lead Lewis & Clark to their first home win of the season. 

Law-school student Jacob Serafini and sophomore Justin Cavagnaro posted a pair of multiple hits games each. Serafini finished the day 5-8 with two runs, four RBI and a homer. Cavagnaro, who was making his season debut after missing time due to an injury, went 4-6 with a pair of runs scored.

GAME ONE RECAP 

Puget Sound used a five-run fifth inning to take a commanding lead and their three pitchers combined to hold the Pioneers to just seven singles. 

Serafini and Cavagnaro each posted two hits with Cavagnaro adding a run scored and Serafini a run batted in. Junior Jakob Ghammachi tacked on a single, a run scored, an RBI and a walk and senior Jack Savant chipped in a single an an RBI. 

On the mound, senior Brett Pierson took the loss despite pitching effectively. The senior went the opening three innings and scattered two hits, one walk, one run and struck out five. Senior Brayden Nomura (3.2 innings) and freshman Nathan Kerr combined to go the final 4.2 innings and allowed just one run between the pair. 

Puget Sound used their top three starters to cover the nine innings. Davis Franklin threw two scoreless to start the game, before Brett Harvey came on for the next four frames. Dylan Joyce pitched the final three innings to earn the save. 

The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run and the game would stay tight into the fifth. In the top of the fifth, the Loggers used four hits, a walk, a hit by pitch and an error to grab a 6-0 advantage. Puget Sound had four-straight batters reach with the bases loaded, with Gabe Huante recording a two-run single to cap off the rally. 

With the Pios trailing 7-0 to start the bottom of the eighth, Lewis & Clark broke up the shutout bid with two runs of their own. Cavagnaro came on to pinch hit and opened the frame with a single. Ghammachi added one of his own and the pair were on second and third with one down for Serafini. The sixth-year shortstop drilled a single through the left side to score Cavagnaro and Savant made it 6-2 with an RBI single of his own. Joyce settled down from there and induced a foul out a strikeout to limit the damage.

GAME TWO RECAP 

Lewis & Clark hit six home runs and scored the final 11 runs of the contest to move back above .500 in Northwest Conference play. 

Sophomore Brennen Davis hit two home runs and went 2-4 with four runs scored, three RBI and a walk. Serafini, junior Luke Bass and sophomore Will Heron each added a home run and three RBI. Senior Jack Thomson went 1-3 with two runs, two RBI, two walks and a homer of his own. 

Sophomore Luke Ritter and the Pioneers bullpen combined to shut down the Loggers offense. Ritter went four innings and allowed six hits, three runs and two walks, while striking out four to earn the victory. Sophomore Kyle Wilsie, seniors Tyler Shimabukuro and Kris Wuelfing and junior Anthony Clerici held Puget Sound to two hits, three walks and no runs over the final five innings. 

Puget Sound senior Dylan Joyce hit a two-run homer in the top of the first, his second of the day, to give the visitors a brief 2-0 advantage. 

In the bottom of the inning, Thomson walked with one out and Bass singled to put two runners on with two down. Heron proceeded to crush a pitch over the center field fence to give the Pioneers the lead for good (3-2).

With the Loggers threatening in the third, Thomson snagged a line drive at third and raced to the bag to for an inning-ending double play to erase a second-and-third-with-one-out jam. 

Two batters later, Thomson made it 5-2, when he belted a home run well over the high fence in right field. 

Puget Sound scored a single run in the fourth and threatened to tie the game in the fifth, but Shimabukuro came through with a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to end the rally.

The top of the order was right back at it in the fifth. Thomson was intentionally walked with one out and no one on and Davis followed with a walk. Bass made the Loggers pay with another no-doubter over the high fence in right to extend the lead to 8-3.

In the sixth inning, Davis extended the lead to 10-3, when his two-run shot hit the top of the batting cage behind the left-field fence for a two-run homer.

It was Serafini's turn in the seventh. After a Brandon Gonzaga sacrifice fly with the bases loaded made it 11-3, Serafini crushed a home run over the left-field fence to score junior John Delaney and Cavagnaro in front of him.

Lewis & Clark added two final runs in the eighth. Davis led off the inning with the Pios only solo home run of the game, an opposite-field shot over the fence in right. With one out, freshman Ryan Sanderson doubled to right center and he came in to score on a single from senior Henry Goodier and an error from Puget Sound. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• After 18-straight games on the road, Lewis & Clark made their home debut on Wednesday. 
• The Pioneers six home runs are their most this season and their most in over a decade, if not in program history. Already this season, the Pioneers have had two games with five or more home runs. As a team, Lewis & Clark has hit 39 home runs in 20 games (just under two per game) and eight players have hit multiple homers. 
• Heron finished game two 1-1 with two runs, three RBI, three walks and a home run. 
• Shimabukuro pitched 2.1 innings in game two and was able to escape two major jams to keep the Loggers from getting back into the game. 
• Clerici and Ritter each struck out the side once in game two. 
• Lewis & Clark's 16 runs are their most in conference game since they scored 20 against Whitman College on February 20, 2022. The 16 runs are also the second-most runs the Pioneers have scored in a game this spring. 
• With the game two win, Lewis & Clark sits all alone in third place in the NWC at 6-5. Puget Sound (5-6) and Linfield (5-5) are just behind the Pioneers in fourth and fifth place. 

WHO'S NEXT 

The Pioneers have their bye in conference play, so they will travel to NAIA Bushnell University for a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon and 3:30 p.m.