TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College baseball's pitchers struck out 26 Puget Sound batters and the River Otters held off Puget Sound's rally in game two, to earn a doubleheader split with the host Loggers on Saturday. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Puget Sound 6, Lewis & Clark 4 (10 Innings) 
Lewis & Clark 8, Puget Sound 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
 
Both games followed similar scripts - with vastly different finishes. The River Otters used strong pitching and early scoring to take control of both games. Puget Sound mounted a comeback in the eighth inning of both games, but in game two Lewis & Clark stemmed the tide to hold on to an 8-7 victory. 
 
Sophomore Sam Burchi (11 strikeouts) and junior Owen Eisen (seven strikeouts) combined for 18 strikeouts over 11 innings, to help Lewis & Clark keep the Loggers bats in check. 
 
Junior Michael Aikawa led the River Otters offense with two hits, two runs and a team-high six RBI across the two contests. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark shut the Loggers down for seven innings, before the hosts scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, and earned the walk-off win in the 10^th inning. 
 
Burchi, who was making just his third career start, was electric on the mound. The sophomore lefty scattered two hits, two walks and two hit by pitches over five scoreless frames. His 11 strikeouts were the most by a River Otters pitcher in over two years.  
 
Sophomore Matt Stanislavky and senior Nate Kerr each threw two-plus innings in relief. Stanislavsky struck out four over 2.1 innings and allowed five hits, three walks and four earned runs. Kerr threw the final 2+ frames and scattered three hits, one walks and two runs and added one strikeout. 
 
Aikawa drove in all four Lewis & Clark runs in the contest. The junior third baseman belted a two-run homer in the first inning and added a pair of sacrifice flies. 
 
Senior Brandon Gonzaga (two runs), junior Eli Steinhaus (one run) and sophomore Evan Carrubba-Rice each added two hits apiece. 
 
Lewis & Clark took the lead after just four pitches. Steinhaus led off the game with a bunt single and Aikawa blasted a homer over the left-field fence to make it 2-0. The River Otters loaded the bases later in the inning but the Puget Sound starter posted a strikeout to get out of the jam. 
 
Aikawa made it 3-0 in the second. Gonzaga led off the frame with a double, moved to third on a Steinhaus sac bunt and raced home on an Aikawa sacrifice fly. 

The River Otters added a fourth run in the sixth. Gonzaga laced a lead-off single, stole second, took third on a Steinhaus sac bunt and scored on another Aikawa sac fly. 
 
Burchi and the River Otters pitching was dominant through the first seven innings. Burchi struck out the side in the first and second innings and posted at least one strikeout in all five of his innings of work. The hosts managed to put a runner on second base just three times through the first seven innings and never moved a runner up to third. 
 
Puget Sound turned the tide in the bottom of the eighth. The hosts used four hits and three walks to knot the score at 4-4. Kerr came on with the score 4-2 and the bases loaded. He retired the first batter he faced with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. After walking the next batter to reload the bases, Kellen Krebs came up through with a game-tying RBI single up the middle. Junior Bret Potter made a terrific throw from center field to retire the runner trying to score from second base to keep the score at 4-4. 
 
Neither side was able to put together a rally in the ninth or top of the 10^th innings. In the bottom of the 10^th, Jim O'Brien hit a two-run, walk-off homer to complete the comeback win for Puget Sound.
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark raced out to another 4-0 lead, but continued to add on to their advantage and three River Otters pitchers combined to keep the Loggers at bay. 
 
Eisen earned his second-straight win and team-leading third victory of the year. Eisen scattered four hits, four walks and three runs across six innings of work. The junior tacked on seven strikeouts. Fellow junior Felix Gibeault went 1.1 innings and allowed two hits, two walks, four runs and struck out one. Potter came on for a five-out save to pick up his team-leading fourth save of the year. Potter scattered one hit and struck out two. 
 
Juniors Evyn Lewis and Gavin Mangano and sophomore Will Michelman all recorded two hits in the win. E. Lewis and Michelman (two runs) each hit home runs and Mangano added a run scored and an RBI. Aikawa chipped in a hit, a run scored, two RBI and two walks. 
 
The River Otters grabbed the lead in the top of the second. Michelman led off with a single and E. Lewis followed with a one-out single. With two down, Gonzaga singled to left field and Michelman raced home for a 1-0 lead. 
Lewis & Clark added three more runs in the third. Aikawa led off with a walk, took second on an error and easily scored on a Mangano single and an error. Potter made it 3-0 when he plated Mangano with an RBI groundout. Michelman pushed the lead to 4-0 with his first home run of the season. 
 
The Loggers temporarily cut the deficit to three runs in the bottom of the inning, before Lewis & Clark answered right back. Gonzaga reached on a leadoff hit by pitch and swiped second base. The shortstop moved to third on a Steinhaus sac bunt and scored on Aikawa's third sac fly of the day. 
 
Krebs cut Lewis & Clark's lead to 5-3 in the fifth, when he hit a two-run, two-out homer. 
 
Aikawa responded in the top of the sixth. With two outs and Gonzaga (third) and Steinhaus (first) on the corners, Aikawa singled to center field to plate Gonzaga. The center field misplayed the ball, which allowed Steinhaus to score all the way from first base to make it 7-3. 
 
E. Lewis pushed the lead to 8-3 in the eighth inning, when he belted his second home run of the season. 
 
Puget Sound mounted their second eighth-inning comeback of the day in the bottom of the inning. The hosts used three hits, a walk, a wild pitch and an error to score four runs to cut the deficit to 8-7. Potter came on with the River Otters leading 8-4 and the bases full of Loggers. He stranded the game-tying run at second base to keep Lewis & Clark ahead by a run. 
 
Potter retired the side in order in the ninth inning to seal Lewis & Clark's fourth win in their past five contests. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Lewis & Clark's 16 strikeouts in game were the program's second-most strikeouts in a single game since 2013. Luke Ritter ('25) and Anthony Clerici ('24) combined for 17 strikeouts in a 5-1 win over George Fox University on March 19, 2022. 
• Burchi's 11 strikeouts are the most strikeouts by a River Otters pitcher since Brett Pierson ('24) struck out 13 batters in over eight innings in a win over Vassar College on March 15, 2024. 
• Aikawa sits second in the NWC this season in RBI (27) after Saturday.
• Gonzaga finished the day 3-7 with four runs scored, one RBI, a hit by pitch and a pair of stolen bases. The senior leads the NWC in stolen bases (15-16) by five steals. 
• Potter (.386) and Mangano (.378) sit second and third in the conference in batting average. 
• Lewis & Clark pitchers posted 26 strikeouts across the doubleheader. The River Otters offense only struck out 11 times on the day. 
• After Saturday, Steinhaus leads the conference in sac bunts (five) and Aikawa paces the conference in sac flies (five).  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will complete their three-game set with the University of Puget Sound on Sunday. Start time of the game has been moved up to 11 a.m. due to rain in the forecast.