NWC Baseball: Gilmore Hits Three Home Runs, as Bearcats Split Doubleheader with Pacific

Young blasts 3-Run HR to help Bearcats rally in game #2.

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SALEM - Colin Young belted a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Kelly Gilmore smacked a solo homer -- his third of the afternoon -- in the sixth inning, as Willamette University rallied for a 9-7 victory over Pacific University in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday.

In the opener, Pacific completed its own rally by scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning for a 12-11 victory.

The doubleheader featured a total of 56 hits, 28 by each team.

Willamette ended the day at 16-19 on the season, 8-14 in the Northwest Conference. Pacific moved to 12-22 overall, 5-14 in the NWC.

In the opener, Gilmore hit home runs in the first inning and the sixth inning, and Grant Yamaguchi blasted a grand slam in the second stanza, but it wasn't enough, as the Boxers overcame an early 7-2 deficit.

Pacific pulled within 7-6 and 9-8 later in the game, before WU added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh on RBI singles by Ty Eriksen and Ryan Peterson.

Trailing 11-8 at the start of the ninth inning, the Boxers sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs on four hits a walk and hit batsman.

The first run scored when Ryan Bailey walked with two outs and the bases loaded. Two more runs crossed the plate when Nick McNeely singled through the right side of the infield to tie the game.

Will Hunt drove in Bailey with an RBI single, before Kyle Barksdale flied out to left field to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Barksdale moved from behind the plate to on the mound, and quickly recorded two outs.

Young kept the inning alive by sending a single into right field. He advanced to second base when Barksdale committed an error on a failed pickoff attempt. Barksdale got Peterson to ground out to complete the game.

Bailey was 4 for 3 with three runs and two RBIs for the Boxers in the opener. Gilmore was 3 for 4 for Willamette, with three runs and three RBIs, while Yamaguchi went 2 for 5 with a run and four RBIs.

The second game began with Pacific scoring four runs on six hits in the first inning. Zach Gantenbein's leadoff double was the only extra-base hit during the stanza and none of the batters earned more than one RBI.

Willamette countered with three runs in the bottom of the first, as Sean Anderson provided a two-RBI single and Young drove in the third run with a single through the right side. Gilmore walked and David Tufo doubled to start the rally.

Pacific extended the lead to 6-3 with a two-run homer by Scott Yasumoto in the third inning, then made it 7-3 with an RBI double by Bailey in the fourth.

Yasumoto was one of two Boxers to homer during the doubleheader. Barksdale hit a solo homer in Pacific's four-run fourth inning in Game #1.

Willamette starter Jarrid Summers, who weathered the Boxers' early success, shut down Pacific over the final five innings to earn a complete-game victory. He improved to 6-3 on the season, while earning three strikeouts and allowing three walks.

Meanwhile, Willamette rallied with three runs in the fourth and one run each in the fifth and sixth innings for an 8-7 tie.

Young brought home all three runs in the top of the fourth with a homer to right field, following a walk issued to Yamaguchi and a single by Matt Rasmussen.

Rasmussen tacked on an RBI single to tie the score in the fifth inning and Gilmore homered in the sixth to put move Willamette into the lead for good.

Tufo drove in catcher Zach Kimball with a single in the eighth inning to give the Bearcats a two-run advantage.

Bailey walked with one out in the top of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but McNeely flied out to center field and Barksdale grounded out to Summers to end the game. Summers threw a total of 117 pitches, while recording his third complete game of the season.

Nate McBride, the second of three Pacific pitchers during the second game, suffered the loss and fell to 0-1 on the season. Pacific starter Brandon Larson allowed six runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Young went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and a run scored for Willamette in the second game. He also had a pinch-hit single in his only at bat in the opener.

Players with two hits for WU in the nightcap were Tufo, Anderson, Yamaguchi and Rasmussen.

For Pacific, Bailey was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, while Yasumoto went 2 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs.

Willamette and Pacific will complete the three-game series with a single game on Monday. First pitch at John Lewis Field is set for 4:30 PM.

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