Linn-Benton baseball’s winning streak finally came to an end last week, with the Beaks dropping the second matchup of a four-game, home and home series with 8-18 Clackamas.
But they won the other three.
In the first game, Linn-Benton won 7-6 in a back and forth matchup in Albany on April 18. Clackamas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Beaks soon countered with four runs in the fifth. In the top of the seventh, Clackamas had another three-run inning, but Linn-Benton managed one score each in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, good enough to tie the game. The game remained even until the bottom of the twelfth inning, when a Cameron Ordway single scored Connor Boyd for the walkoff win. Ordway was the star of the game, with four hits off six at-bats, along with two RBIs and two runs, both team-bests.
Camden Stephens played six innings at pitcher for Linn-Benton, facing 24 batters and allowing three hits and three runs. However, Russell Holly earned the win despite playing less than an inning, facing two batters and allowing just one hit.
The next game was Linn-Benton’s first loss since mid-March, a 2-1 final score in a largely offense-less affair. Vincent Iwamura earned the Beaks’ lone RBI, scoring Ethan Buckley on a single in the bottom of the seventh. Pitcher Ever Lamm played eight innings, allowing three hits and two runs.
The Beaks avenged their surprising loss in dominant fashion two days later on the road, defeating Clackamas 13-0. Kace Naone recorded three RBIs and two runs off his three at-bats, while pitcher Ethan Kleinschmit allowed just two hits in his five innings played, earning the win for LB. Aidan Dougherty recorded five runs. The game only lasted seven innings, and the Beaks managed to score in all but one, including four-run explosions in the fifth and seventh.
In the final game of the series later that day, Linn-Benton won again, this time 4-2. Spencer Sullivan and Evan Chadwick tied for a team-best two hits each. Pitcher Gabe Brabec earned the win, playing six out of eight innings. He allowed five runs and recorded 12 strikeouts.
The Beaks traded their 19-game win streak for a stack of two at the end of the week, but they still are atop the NWAC South standings with a 29-7 overall record (25-3 in conference). Up next, they face Southwestern Oregon to close out the month of April, with two games on the road on the 25th and two games at home on the 27th. In both cases, the first game of the day will begin at 1 p.m.
