In a Friday NWAC doubleheader at Stewart Park, Mt. Hood Community College and Umpqua Community College split the day, with Mt. Hood taking the opener 6-3 before Umpqua responded with an 11-3 win in Game 2.
Game 1: Mt. Hood 6, Umpqua 3
Mt. Hood struck early and built a cushion it would not relinquish in the seven-inning victory.
The Saints plated four runs in the first inning, capitalizing on timely extra-base hitting. Diego Richards opened the scoring with an RBI single to center, and Jonathan Wright broke the inning open with a three-run double to right, giving Mt. Hood a 4-0 advantage.
Umpqua answered in the third on a sacrifice fly from Shiloh Wilson, but the Riverhawks were limited to just one run through the first eight innings.
Anthony Leo (1-0) earned the win for Mt. Hood, allowing one earned run on two hits over 4.0 innings while striking out five. James Kingsbury followed with three scoreless frames, and despite a two-run rally in the ninth, Ethan McLaughlin closed the door to secure his first save.
Mt. Hood added insurance in the seventh when Adam Elliot delivered a two-run single, scoring Kyle Slater and Jordan Araiza to extend the lead to 6-1.
Richards paced the Saints offensively, going 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Wright drove in three. Umpqua was led by Taylor Davis and Tristan Schaefer, who each collected two hits.
Game 2: Umpqua 11, Mt. Hood 3
Umpqua flipped the script in the nightcap, using a six-run sixth inning to pull away and earn the split.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first on an RBI single by Jackson Thomsen, Mt. Hood answered in the second and third innings. Cade Wynn delivered an RBI single in the second, and Diego Richards added another run-scoring hit in the third to keep the Saints within striking distance.
Yuichiro Kumagami gave Mt. Hood its final spark in the fourth, launching a solo home run to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Umpqua regained momentum with a sacrifice fly from Davis in the fourth, then broke the game open in the sixth. Thomsen highlighted the inning with a two-run single, Aidan Birchard added a two-run single of his own, and Trevor Ratliff capped the rally with an RBI double as the Riverhawks scored six times in the frame.
Bayden Morris (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing one run over four innings while striking out two. Josh Jackson struck out three in a scoreless seventh to finish the game.
Thomsen drove in three runs to lead Umpqua's 11-hit attack, while Davis scored twice and added two RBI. Birchard finished with two hits and two RBI in the victory.
Doubleheader Summary
Mt. Hood totaled nine runs on 12 hits across the two games, highlighted by Richards' four-hit day and Wright's three-RBI performance in the opener. Umpqua responded with 11 runs on 11 hits in Game 2 after being held to three runs in the first contest.
