MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University baseball team fell 14–4 to Linfield University on Saturday afternoon in the second nonconference matchup of the weekend.
Eastern struggled to generate early offense, producing just three hits through the first four innings and stranding all three baserunners. Linfield took an early lead with a solo homerun in the second inning before pushing their lead to 4-0 in the third off of a three run homerun. The Wildcats continued to apply offensive pressure in the middle innings, stringing together hits and RBIs to extend their lead.
The Mountaineers broke through in the fifth inning to get on the board. After singles from
Afton Milton and Mario Soto, Milton came around to score on an
Andrew Demianew groundout to put EOU on the board. Eastern Oregon continued to chip away in the sixth inning.
Greyson McDaniel led off with a single to left, followed by a base hit from
Carson Gerding. The duo executed steals before McDaniel scored on a groundout by DeBone. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Milton brought Gerding home, trimming the deficit to 5–3.
Linfield responded in the bottom half with a three-run home run by Kennel and later capitalized on a walk to stretch the lead back to six. The Wildcats added insurance in the seventh, combining walks and base hits to pull away. EOU pushed across one final run in the eighth when McDaniel doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Jace Nagler, McDaniel, and Gerding each recorded two hits for the Mountaineers.
Jace Schow (0–2) took the loss on the mound, while Jack Williams (1–0) earned the win for Linfield.
Eastern Oregon will look to bounce back as the Mountaineers close out the three-game series Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
