PENDLETON — Walla Walla Community College used offense and pitching here Saturday in NWAC East Region baseball action to sweep Blue Mountain Community College.
The Warriors pounded out 16 hits in defeating the Timberwolves 12-5 in the opener. After spotting Blue Mountain a 4-0 lead after one, the bullpen shut out the Timberwolves the rest of the way and the Warrior bats came to life as Walla Walla completed the Sweep with a 9-4 second-game win.
A Josh Kutzke three-run double sparked the Warriors to a four-run second in the opener. The Warrior 4-0 lead was short lived. The Timberwolves got it all back with one swing of the bat. Rodney Scarver blasted a grand-slam in the home second to knot the game at 4-4.
Walla Walla got an RBI single from Colton Petha and a bases load walk courtesy of the Timberwolves, to spark a three-run Warrior third. The Warriors had the lead for good at 7-4 after three.
The Warriors played add on from there on and emerged with the 12-5 win.
Kutzke led the Warrior 16-hit attack with five hits and four RBI. Peha, Brandon Wagstaff, Jacob Haas contributed two hits each to the first game Warrior win.
Tate Spivey greeted starting second-game Warrior pitcher Haas with a grand-slam home run in the home first and the Timberwolves led 4-0 after one.
A Peha fifth inning RBI ground out and a Larry DeWitt run-scoring single got the Warriors even at 4-4 after five. Taylor Brooks put the Warriors on top for good with a sixth inning single to knock home Kutzke with the go-ahead run. The Warriors led 5-4 after six. Brooks followed in the seventh with a two-run single to spark a three-run Warrior seventh and put this one away as the Warriors took an 8-4 lead into the eighth on the way to the 9-4 win.
This one belonged to the Warrior bullpen. Austin Haughton, Dimick Wood, and Carson Woolery combined to throw eight innings of scoreless three-hit relief to give the Warrior offense time to come back from that 4-0 deficit.
Sean Coffey had four hits to pace the Warrior offense in game two. Brooks added three hits and Wagstaff chipped in two as the Warriors combined for 14 hits in game two.
“Our bullpen was great,” Warrior coach Dave Meliah said. “We had tough at bats with two strikes (all day). Those things working together make for a good day.”
WWCC improves to 6-2 in the East and into a three-way tie with Spokane and Yakima for first in the East. The Warriors, 14-8 overall, host Spokane Wednesday at 1 p.m.
