Roadrunners Fall Short in Thriller Against Tacoma

Longview, Washington -- The Linn-Benton Baseball team sits on the brink of elimination in the NWAC Championship Tournament after falling short in the second round to Tacoma Community College 4-2 on Friday, May 26.

The contest remained scoreless for four innings before Roadrunners Daniel Pruitt picked up his first tournament hit and drove in Aidan Dougherty. Pruitt went 0-4 with 4 strikeout's in the first round against Bellevue College. 

The Titans answered right back in the top half of the fifth with Kamana Nahaku double down the left field line brought in Noah Fields. Nahaku had himself a day going 4-5 with 3 doubles, and an RBI. 

A two-out single by Dougherty in the bottom half of the fifth gave the Roadrunners a 2-1 lead. Brady Baltus went 7 innings for the beaks, allowing 1 earned run on 9 hits, walking 2, while striking out 5. 

After the Roadrunners elected to go to the bullpen in the eighth inning the Titans were able to tag Ever Lamm for two runs and take the lead for good. One more insurance run in the ninth sealed the deal. 

The Roadrunners did threaten in the bottom of the ninth, with runners on first and second with red-hot hitter Titus Dumitru at the plate, but were unable to capitalize. 

Next up, the Roadrunners will return to David Story Field for early morning action, with an 11:05 a.m. matchup with south region rival Lane Community College. Winner will move on in the elimination bracket, and the loser will head home. The Roadrunners took the NWAC South Region Title after the Lane Titans finished 2-8 in their last 10 games, falling to second.