Self-Inflicted Wounds Cost Elks the Cowlitz Series

The Elks poor pitching and defense cost Bend the series against Cowlitz. (Andrew Green)

Bend, OR. - History repeated itself Wednesday night at Vince Genna Stadium as the Bend Elks once again gave the Cowlitz Black Bears extra opportunities and were punished for their own mistakes as the Black Bears capitalized on four Elk errors and ten walks to clinch the 9-2 series win.

The game produced nearly an identical start, with Cowlitz putting up four runs in the second inning for the second straight game sparked by a leadoff homer by Grant Jay, succeeded by three walks and RBI HBP plus errors that scored two runs. The rocky start piled into a mountain of mistakes as the Elks committed three extra errors plus seven additional walks, allowing the Black Bears to pick Bend apart with five more runs tallied across the fifth and sixth frames.

Although the Elk's first three hurlers gave up multiple runs and walks, Shane Buchanan and Jackson Peters starred in the drowning innings of the game. Buchanan and Peters combined for half of Bend's ten strikeouts while holding the Black Bears scoreless over the last three and two-thirds innings.

Cowlitz starter Kai Francis was serving the Elks outs on a platter, surrendering just one hit and three total baserunners with four strikeouts among the 18 batters he faced. Bend snapped the shutout in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Luca Dipaolo and Bennett Thompson. Bend added its only other run on an unorthodox 3-6-2 sequence where Cowlitz tried to catch Hunter Komine in a pickle between second and third while Tyler Peterson sprinted down the third base line to beat the toss to the plate.

Ely Kennel and Brandon Larson accounted for four of the Black Bears' seven hits. Kennel posted his second straight multi-hit and RBI game. No Elks finished with multiple hits, with Bennett Thompson being responsible for the only RBI.

Bend (17-19, 14-18), now losers of three straight, will look to dodge a series sweep from Cowlitz (18-17, 18-16) and get back on the right track ahead of its longest road trip of the season. The finale's first pitch is Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Vince Genna Stadium.