Roadrunners Take One of Two From Rival

The Linn-Benton Roadrunners baseball team traveled to Eugene this past Saturday to play a double-header with division rival Lane Community College. LB split the two games, losing the first 3-2, and then recovery to blowout the Titans 13-0. The two games were the only ones of the week for LBCC, as poor weather prevented them from hosting Chemeketa earlier in the week.

Lane 3, Linn-Benton 2 (Game 1)

The Titans were able to overcome four errors in the first game to up-end the Roadrunners. LB scored two runs int the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead, but Lane responded by scoring runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to jump ahead for good. Sophomore pitcher Nick Phillips got the win for the Titans and LB sophomore A.J. Burke was dealt the loss to fall to 6-2 on the season.

Linn-Benton 13, Lane 0 (Game 2)

The Roadrunners were not going to go down without a fight as they came out swinging in the night cap. LB recorded 15 hits in the game, while the pitching staff held the Titans to just 4 hits. Sophomore Travis Iverson picked up the victory on the mound for LBCC to move to 3-2 on the season, while freshman pitcher Dawson Phinney was credited with loss for LCC despite striking out six batters on the day.

Coach Greg Hawk walks back to the
dugout after chatting to his pitcher
4/30/2011

With the split in Eugene the Roadrunners moved to 14-16 overall and 8-10 in the South Division of the NWAACC. Linn-Benton now sits four games back of Lane for the division's last playoff spot.

Roadrunners Baseball Report: "Turning It Around"

The Linn-Benton baseball team has hit the midpoint of their season and is in the midst of making a major turnaround from last year's disappointing season. The Roadrunners are currently in a second-place tie with rival Lane Community College for the South Division's last playoff spot.

Prior to the start of the season head coach Greg Hawk knew that this team had a great chance to make the turnaround because they returned 14 sophomores from a 2010 team that struggled to a last place finish in the South Division of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, but gained valuable experience.

At 13-11 overall and 7-5 in the division coach Hawk feels that his team has played well but  has been just several small mistakes away from having a special season. The record shows just how far the team has come as they have already eclipsed last year's win total and are poised to make a run at the playoffs in the second half of their season.

"The guys have done well so far this season and the record might not show just how well they have done, but when we can put it all together I believe we can be very good," Hawk said.

Through the first 24 games sophomores AJ Burke and Sam Paterson have led an experienced pitching staff. Burke leads the NWAACC with five wins, and holds a 6-1 record with a 3.18 earned run average. Paterson has had a good season thus far as well putting up a 4-3 record with an eye-popping 0.98 ERA that ranks 11th in the NWAACC.

Paterson will be key on the mound as the
Roadrunners make a push for the postseason
4/21/2011

Burke might have had already provided LBCC with its individual highlight for the season when he threw a one hit shutout against Chemeketa on April 9th. Burke had a no-hitter intact through eight innings but lost it in the ninth inning. He also had an astonishing 18 strikeouts in the game.

The Roadrunners bat's have been headed by sophomore second baseman Jordan Keeker who is hitting .329 while leading the team with 27 hits, 15 runs scored, and 13 runs batted in. Freshman first baseman and designated hitter Kainoa Ahsing has contributed with a .298 batting average and ranks second on the team with 10 RBI's and third with 14 runs scored.

When asked what he thought about the team's improvement this season Sam Paterson said, "I feel like we have done pretty good so far, but we still haven't played up to our potential. We have a great group of guys and I think that some of us sophomores just need to step up and become better leaders to get us over the hump."

Next season Paterson, along with sophomore pitchers Mackie Unruh and Bobby Ragasa, will be traveling north to play baseball a NCAA Division II Montana State University Billings. For now though they are key members of a Linn-Benton baseball team in the middle of a great turnaround, and a postseason chase.