Concordia's Jared Young recorded RBI hits in each of his final three at bats on Thursday.
CU Opens Challenge with 10-2 Win Over Willamette
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. Willamette
PORTLAND, Ore.—Scoring runs in four of the first five innings, Concordia defeated Willamette 10-2 in the opening game of the CCC-NWC Challenge held at Porter Park on Thursday.
Concordia (5-6) used three pitchers to combine for the five-hit win. Starter Eddie Crowe allowed two runs on four hits before turning to Alex Bos and Austin Hadley. Bos earned the win after keeping the Bearcats hitless in 2 1/3 innings. Hadley, meanwhile, picked up the three-inning save with three strikeouts against one hit in the final three frames.
“It was just an all-around good game from our club today,” CU head coach Rob Vance said.”Bos and Crowe did what we expect of them as experienced pitchers and the freshman, Hadley, really had a good outing.”
The Cavaliers got on the board with a single run in the bottom of the first as Cole Shidaki drove in Blake Drake. Drake reached on a bunt single and quickly moved to second on a stolen base to setup Shidaki’s drive.
Both teams got a single run across the plate in the third inning before Willamette tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth with a bases loaded sacrifice fly to right by Tanner Oates. With one out on the board, Sky Kelley and Hunter Gallant connected on singles before Matt Hirsch drew a walk to load the bases for Oates. Following the sac fly, Crowe walked Brad Brier to reload the bags. Talking to the mound with the Bearcats looking to take a big lead, Bos was able to get Gordon Clary to take a third strike for the final out of the inning.
Immediately after getting out of the jam, the Concordia offense struck for four runs in the home half of the fourth. Ryne Briley led off with a double down the left-field line and Jared Young followed with an RBI single to center. From there, Ben Talbot laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Young into scoring position.
After a liner to the outfield, Drake returned to eth plat with a single to center which scored Young. A walk to Jordan Keeker then put runners on first and second for Keeker. Belting a single to center, both runners were able to score as the ball scooted by the charging Bearcat infielder.
The Cavs went on to score one in the fifth with an RBI triple to left-center from Young and three more in the seventh to put the game away.
Young finished the day going 3 for 4 at the dish with four RBI and a run scored. Drake and Shidaki both went 2 for 3 for the Cavaliers with Drake scoring on three occasions.
Gallant was the lone Bearcat to record multiple hits, going 2 for 4 with a pair of singles to right.
Concordia is scheduled to host Pacific University at 2 p.m. on Friday.