Granucci and Piazza Homer as Bearcats Split Doubleheader at Linfield

McMinnville, Ore. - Willamette Baseball split the opening day doubleheader of their series at Linfield, winning the first game 7-6 before dropping game two 10-4.  The Bearcats scored three runs in the top of the ninth of game one and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning to earn the victory.  Unearned runs were the story in game two as eight of Linfield's ten runs were unearned as they went on to defeat the Bearcats.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard first in the opening game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second after loading the bases without any outs.  Willamette responded in the top of the fourth to tie the score thanks to a two-run home run by Rocco Granucci and a solo shot from Luke Piazza.  

Linfield took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth on a home run by Luke Porter, but the Bearcats would come up big in the final innings to pull ahead and eventually win the game.  Trevor Sostman had an RBI single in the top of the eighth to make the score 5-4 in favor of Linfield and Willamette scored three more in the ninth to take a 7-5 lead, the last run coming on a Piazza double with two outs.

The Wildcats led off the bottom of the inning with a home run to pull within one run and then managed to load the bases with two outs, but Dylan Turner got Nick Holm to foul out to end the game.  Turner pitched the ninth to earn the save and Matthew Mason earned the win in relief by getting the final two outs of the eighth inning.

Linfield took advantage of some Bearcat miscues in game two and jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.  An error, two hit batsmen, and four singles led to four early runs that were capped off by a three-run home run by Luke Porter.

The Wildcats scored single runs in the third and the fifth before Willamette got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, scoring their first run thanks to a Linfield error and two more coming in on a Preston Lau double to left field.

The Bearcats threatened again in the eighth, loading the bases with nobody out and scoring on a groundout by Beckett Montgomery, but Willamette was only able to score one run in that inning and the game ended 10-4 in favor of Linfield.

The two teams will play the deciding third game of the series at Linfield on Sunday, March 23rd, with the first pitch scheduled for Noon.