Roadrunner Baseball Sweeps Rival Lane To remain Undefeated In The Conference
The Lane Community College Titans started last week off on an eight-game winning streak, recovering from 4-8 to 12-8, and were sitting at #6 in the NWAC coaches poll. That was before a #5 Roadrunners team spoiled the party by winning the series 4-0 and keeping their undefeated record in the south in tact for the start of their two game make-up series against Clark this upcoming Wednesday.
Before the series with Lane, both teams were jockeying for advantage in the Southern Division, the two being undefeated respectively. While the series looked to be evenly matched, the Roadrunners started the weekend off by jutting out to an 8-5 victory, led by an array of scoring from their batters, with six players each contributing to the score. While Lane’s defense did a stellar job compared to other teams this season, allowing 16 total runs during the series (LBCC once hit that during a single game against Southwestern Oregon), they still couldn’t secure a victory after that starting game. The Titans fell 4-3 after seven innings in the next matchup. The Roadrunners then added the exclamation point, winning both contests on the road 2-0 and 3-2, with the former being LBCC’s lowest scoring game of the season. Dequan Dennis-Lee and Maxwell Long were the only players who managed to score runs for the Roadrunners.
Dequan Dennis-Lee (Left) and Daniel Ferrario are an example of how Coach Peterson has created a tight bond in his first season. 
Marcus Lydon finished with an RBI of 1 after the first match-up against Lane with a sacrifice fly to help Jacob Melton score. 
Daniel Ferrario finished the series against Lane with seven total strikeouts, contributing to LBCC’s stellar defense. 
Richie Masceneras managed one run against the Titans in their first match-up among six players who scored, demonstrating the depth the team utilizes. 
The Roadrunners started the series off #5 in the NWAC coaches poll and are likely to surge after a solid sweep.
After the sweep, LBCC finds themselves as the clear frontrunners for first in the south, as Lane fell to third and the Mount Hood St. Bernards jumped to second with their overall record of 13-6 and conference record of 3-1. Lane suddenly finds their winning record snapped and they now have an overall record of 12-12. The Roadrunners, on the other hand, are starting to make a case for themselves, as if the rest of the conference hadn’t noticed already. LBCC holds the longest win streak in the NWAC at ten games, and is the only other team besides the #1 ranked Tacoma Titans (26-3) to remain undefeated in their respective division.
The Roadrunners will enjoy a two day break before making up for a rain delay against Clark on Wednesday, April 17. The start of the series will take place at Linn-Benton, then the teams will finish the series at Clark College on Monday, April 22. Clark currently sits at an even 13-13 on the year with a conference record of 2-2, putting them at fifth in the south division rankings.
LBCC will throw the first pitch of the series at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 17.
Story and Photos by Cam Hanson
