Mt. Hood 11-1 in league play following Chemeketa

 

The Saints baseball team has run its NWAC record to 11-1, taking three of four games played last weekend against South Region rival Chemeketa Community College.

Mt. Hood, now 20-8 overall, hopes to build on its lead in the South today and Saturday, playing four home games against Southwestern Oregon Community College on Oslund Field.

Against Chemeketa on April 10, Mt. Hood started with a solid, 4-2 home win. The Saints started out strong, scoring one run in each of the first two innings for a 2-0 lead. Mt. Hood’s Seth Rayburn held the Storm scoreless for the first four innings.

Chemeketa cut the Saints’ lead to one, off a Gerhett Moser single to score Connor Gilham in the top of the fifth. But Mt. Hood scored two in the bottom of the eighth. Isaac Benard scored off a balk (generally, when an umpire calls a deceptive move by a pitcher, allowing base runners to advance by one base). Then Taylor Travess singled to drive in Andrew Haley to extend the score 4-1

The Storm had one more chance to take the lead, but they could only mange one run in the ninth, giving the Saints the win.

Seth Rayburn pitched the whole game, improving to 3-1 on the season. He gave up seven hits, two runs, and recorded six strikeouts and has a 2.39 ERA. The Saints batters had 10 hits, with Travess and Nick Gawley each getting an RBI.

Game 2 saw the Saints dominate wire-to-wire in a shortened, seven-inning game. The Saints batters had no trouble driving in runs, starting off with Louis Wolf scoring off of a flyout. Gawley scored off of a Tommy Lane sacrifice bunt, driving the score to 2-0.

The second inning would be no different as Mt. Hood again drove in two runs. Kody Matthews doubled to score Joe Balfour and Travess to extend the lead to 4-0. Another two-score inning pushed the lead to 6-0, the final score.

Mt. Hood pitcher Nathan Hunter improved to 3-0 with a complete game, giving up only two hits and getting five strikeouts. Hunter’s ERA now stands at 1.72 on the season.

The series moved on Sunday to Salem for Game 3, which saw Mt. Hood get a close win after coming from behind.

The Storm scored first in the bottom of the first, before both MHCC and Chemeketa scored two runs in the six inning.

Trailing 3-2, the Saints had one last shot to win the game in the ninth, and their batters delivered, knocking in two runs for a 4-3 victory.

In Game 4, Mt. Hood looked for the sweep, and tried to remain perfect in league play. But they would fall to the Storm, 3-1, for their first loss in the division.

On Wednesday, the Saints played the Concordia University junior varsity in a rain-postponed game, winning 8-7.

Concordia went on a three-run surge in the top of the ninth to scare the Saints, but Mt. Hood survived.

Now the Saints host SWOCC for four important games, starting today at 4 p.m.