Tacoma Outlasts Defending Champs Linn-Benton 4-2

LONGVIEW, Wash. – The Tacoma Titans won a hard fought battle 4-2 over defending champions Linn-Benton in the winner's bracket of the NWAC Baseball Championship on Friday at David Story Field.

The Titans' bats heated up as the game progressed as they recorded 13 hits by the end. Tacoma had at least one hit in eight of nine innings, eventually scoring two runs in the eighth and an insurance run in the ninth. Five batters had multi-hit games led by Kamana Nahaku who went 4-for-5 with three doubles and an RBI.

Jeremiah Crain had an RBI double in the eighth to tie the score and Noah Fields followed up with the clutch two-out RBI single to give the Titans the lead.

The Titans also got an excellent start out of Elijah Higginbottom who allowed two runs in seven innings. Higginbottom struck out six before handing the ball over to Jack Berg, who closed out the final two innings for the save.

The Roadrunners also had a great start from Brady Baltus, who held the Titans to one run as he was able to limit damage on nine hits. However, the Titans worked his pitch count up to get to the bullpen where they eventually struck for three runs.

Cole Cramer, Aidan Dougherty and Daniel Pruitt led the Roadrunners with two hits each. Dougherty and Pruitt each had an RBI.

The Titans move on in the winner's bracket and will face the winner of Friday's finale between Spokane and Lower Columbia. The Roadrunners move down to the loser's bracket and will face region rival Lane in Saturday's opener at 11:05 a.m. in an elimination game.

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Contact: Iain Dexter; idexter@clark.edu