Vikes Stretch Winning Streak To Five

After splitting their last two series, the Vikes hoped to continue to take steps in the right direction as they hosted Grays Harbor Community College for a four game set.

Game one began with Hayden Schooler being handed the ball for his fourth start of the season where he was not as sharp as he had been in past starts. Schooler struggled with his command walking 6 batters over his 5 innings of work while punching out seven before handing the ball off to James Macrae to protect a 5-4 lead. While Schooler grinded through his outing, his ability to strike hitters out allowed him to escape a number of self-induced jams. With Grays Harbor scratching runs across in each of the first three innings, the Viking offense was able to respond finding a way to take a 5-4 lead after three innings. Viking pitching settled in with Macrae tossing 3 innings of scoreless and hitless baseball while punching out two before handing it off to Viking closer Bryce Laforest who was looking to collect his first collegiate save. The Viking offense went quiet after the 3rd inning leaving Laforest a one run lead going into the 9th. Laforest managed to throw a scoreless ninth while surrendering one hit and striking out two, to collect the save and secure the victory in game one. Ryley Doig, Oak Held and JT Penrod led the Viking offense collecting two hits a piece while Kyle Belich delivered a crucial two RBI single to give the Vikes the lead early in the ball game leading to the game one win. 

After a nail biter in game one, the Vikes leaned on freshman right hander Garin Gurtler to carry them to a game two victory. After a rough college debut, Gurtler has settled in with back to back quality starts going into his outing versus Grays Harbor. Gurtler kept the trend going tossing 6 quality innings surrendering 2 runs on 6 hits while the Viking offense exploded. The Vikes managed to collect 15 hits in 7 innings to complete a 14-2 mercy rule led by Oak Held collecting two hits and driving in four, while Roman Basurto, Ryley Doig and Davis Chakos all had multi hit games while collecting three RBI's a piece in the blow out. Solid pitching and an offensive on-slaught allowed the Vikes to stretch their winning streak to three. 

Game three came with sophomore pitcher Brett Nemechek getting handed the ball. Nemechek's outing mirrored Schooler's the day prior as Nemechek struggled with his command. Walking 3 and hitting 5 batters through 5 innings of work forced the sophomore to work out of jams on a regular basis. Fortunately, Nemechek was able to navigate through the base running traffic he had created leaving the game after 5 innings with a 4-1 lead. Zach Engh came in and struggled allowing three consecutive base runners without recording an out prior to handing the ball off to Aaron Mills who limited the damage although the three run lead had become a 4-3 ball game in the 6th inning. The Vikes were able to add a run in the bottom of the sixth and 2 runs in the 8th giving them a 7-3 lead going into the 9th. Nolan Soderstrom came in to close the door and ran into some issues giving up 2 hits and walking a batter along with an error on the defensive end allowing Grays Harbor to inch closer cutting the lead to 7-5 with two outs and runners on. Soderstrom was able to collect the final out himself with an outstanding defensive play resulting in a 7-5 victory. Rory Swanson, Roman Basurto, Kyler Nilson and Gunner Graves ran the Viking offense with all collecting 2 hits a piece while scoring 6 of the 7 BBCC runs.

After a tight game 3, the Vikes handed the ball to freshman left hander Brendan McKinley to see if they could complete the four game sweep. McKinley, currently riding a 9 innings scoreless streak continued his dominance. With game four being a 7 inning game, the Vikes knew it was a sprint and had to act early. After failing to score in the first two innings, BBCC exploded for 7 runs in the 3rd and did not look back. The Vikes managed to score 11 runs on 13 hits in a 5 inning 10 run mercy rule as Roman Basurto delivered a bases loaded single to walk it off in the bottom of the 5th. All nine hitters collected at least one hit in the blow out with Basurto and Doig driving in 3 runs a piece. McKinley was brilliant tossing all 5 of the required innings punching out 3 while allowing a single run in the top half of the 5th to complete the four game sweep. Head Coach Chase Tunstall had this to say regarding the weekend.

"The guys were able to get it done this weekend. They stayed true to their approach and executed at a high level this weekend. Our pitching staff showed signs of having the ability to weather the storm when things got a little rocky. Our offense had a monster weekend and were able to put up big numbers. It was nice to see the players trust the process up to this point and get back to .500. Excited to get back to work on Tuesday."

BBCC prepares to wrap up the preseason as they travel to the west side to play Pierce CC and Tacoma CC for two games a piece this upcoming Friday and Saturday. 

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