By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Wyatt Thames (Jr., OF, Elk Grove, CA/Huntington Beach HS/Biola University) of Willamette University registered a single, a sacrifice fly, and a stolen base on Saturday, April 14, but the Bearcats lost a pitcher's duel to Concordia University Chicago, 4-2. Willamette fell to 21-8 on the season as the Bearcats finished 2-2 during their trip to the Chicago area. Concordia-Chicago improved to 12-17.
The game featured just 10 hits with the Cougars holding a 6-4 edge. CUC also committed the game's only two errors. Shortstop Yashion Boswell of Concordia-Chicago was 3 for 4 at the plate with a double, a run scored, and two RBIs. No other player on either team had more than one hit.
In addition to Thames, other Willamette players with a hit against the Cougars were Carl Lawson (Sr., OF, Whittier, CA/Lutheran HS/Cal Poly Pomona), Luke Piazza (Jr., 1B/LF, Simi Valley, CA/Royal HS/UC Davis), and Liam O'Connor (Fy., SS, Evergreen, CO/Conifer HS). Boswell's double for Concordia-Chiago was the only extra-base hit during the game. Caleb Anderson of CUC walked twice and scored two runs.
WU starting pitcher Steven Verespey (So., RHP, San Ramon, CA/California HS), 1-1, threw five innings and allowed five hits and two runs. He struck out five batters and gave up two walks. Samuel Daly (Grad., RHP, El Dorado Hills, CA/Jesuit HS) threw the next 1 2/3 innings and earned one strikeout. Daly limited CUC to one hit, three walks, and two runs, including one unearned run. Brady Joyner (Sr., RHP, Las Vegas, NV/Shadow Ridge HS) tossed the final 1 1/3 innings, as he accumulated four strikeouts while holding CUC to no hits and no runs.
Concordia-Chicago used six pitchers. The third pitcher, Brady McCleery spent the most time on the mound as he pitched the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Kyle Ston, 1-0, pitched the sixth inning and allowed two runs on one run with two walks and a strikeout. Eliot Higgins, who later pitched for the Cougars in the eighth and ninth innings, earned his first save and recorded three strikeouts.
Neither team scored during the first four-and-a-half innings. In the top of the second, Thames singled with two outs and stole second base before O'Connor hit an infield single. The runners were left at first and third. The Cougars earned a single in the second inning, and Boswell hit a double for CUC in the third, but neither runner scored. Lawson singled for Willamette in the fourth before a pop-up and a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Anderson walked with one out. He went to second on a single by Boswell, reached third when Xavier Zagerman walked, and scored on a single by Elijah Hickman. Tyler Dorch hit an RBI single to drive in Boswell. In the sixth, WU tied the game at 2-2. With one out, Lawson reached first on a fielder's choice, as Rocco Granucci (Jr., OF, San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) went to second and third on a throwing error. Piazza singled to drive in Granucci. Later, Thames sent Lawson across the plate with a sacrifice fly.
The Cougars regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Two walks and a passed ball with one out placed runners and second and third. Boswell singled up the middle, allowing Michael Kasik and Anderson to score, as CUC moved in front 4-2.
Neither team registered a run or a hit over the final three innings, but WU received a walk in the seventh and two walks with one out in the eighth. Higgins caused a popup and a strikeout to end the threat. Joyner struck out three Cougars in the bottom of the eighth, and Higgins faced just three batters in the top of the ninth.
Willamette will take on George Fox University in a Northwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 20 at John Lewis Field. The first game is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. PDT.
