Lewis & Clark College

PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College baseball celebrated their five seniors pregame and then proceeded to complete a four-game sweep of Willamette University to punch their ticket to the 2026 Northwest Conference Tournament. 
 
THE BASICS 

Lewis & Clark 5, Willamette 4
Lewis & Clark 22, Willamette 14
(Lewis & Clark 21-16, NWC 13-8) 
(Willamette 8-26, NWC 4-17)

HOW IT HAPPENED 
 
The River Otters rallied from a 4-1 deficit in game one, to earn a 5-4 walk-off win on junior Bret Potter's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning. They would put together an even bigger comeback in game two. After going down 13-7, Lewis & Clark rallied for 13 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, to eventually earn a 22-14 win. 
 
Before the start of Sunday's doubleheader, Lewis & Clark honored seniors Brandon Gonzaga, Ryan Sanderson, Joaquin Sandoval, Nate Kerr and team manager Jack Venegas. The Senior Class earned their 88^th and 89^th career wins on Sunday and punched their ticket to the NWC Tournament for a second time. They will be the first class in school history to compete in multiple NWC Tournaments. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark scored three runs in the sixth inning to tie the score at 4-4 and Potter drove in junior Evyn Lewis with two down in the bottom of the ninth inning, to clinch the NWC series sweep. 
 
Potter and E. Lewis combined for six of the team's 12 hits. Potter went 3-5 with a run scored and two RBI. E. Lewis chipped in three hits, a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore Will Michelman added two hits and a run scored and Sandoval added a hit, a run scored, an RBI and a walk. 
 
Sophomore Dillon Foster pitched the opening four frames and took a no decision after allowing eight hits, two walks and four unearned runs. Foster added five strikeouts. Sophomore Matt Stanislavsky followed with four scoreless innings of relief and recorded six strikeouts against two walks and one hit. Potter earned the win after giving up one hit in a scoreless top of the ninth. 
 
Potter opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Eli Steinhaus opened the inning with a hit by pitch and stole second. With one down, Potter laced an RBI single to center field to make it 1-0. 
 
Willamette grabbed a 4-1 lead in the top of the second behind five hits and two Lewis & Clark errors. 
 
The River Otters evened the score in the sixth. Potter and Michelman opened the frame with back-to-back singles and Sandoval followed with an RBI single through the left side to cut the deficit to 4-2. First year Garrett Lewis loaded the bases with a single and sophomore Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson followed with an RBI groundout to make it 4-3. E. Lewis tied the score with a two-out RBI single to left-center to plate Sandoval. 
 
Lewis & Clark earned the walk-off win in the ninth. E. Lewis started the rally with a one-out single and moved to second when junior Michael Aikawa was hit by a pitch with two outs. Potter drilled a line-drive single off the first baseman's glove and E. Lewis managed to race home - despite slipping on his turn around third base. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark put together their biggest inning of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning to rally from a seven-run deficit. The River Otters briefly grabbed a 6-5 lead in the second, only for Willamette to score eight unanswered runs in the third and fourth. Lewis & Clark scored 13 runs in the fifth and 16 of the final 17 runs in a 22-14 victory. 
 
Twelve players recorded hits in the contest to help Lewis & Clark post new season-highs in hits (20), runs (22), RBI (22), doubles (five) and triples (two). 
 
Juniors Evan Maury, Toby Strawser, Potter and Steinhaus all posted multiple hits, multiple runs and three RBI. Maury finished 2-4 with four runs scored, three RBI, two walks, a double and a triple. Strawser tacked on two hits, two runs scored, three RBI, a walk and a double. Potter chipped in three hits, two runs scored, three RBI and a walk. Steinhaus went 3-5 with two runs scored, three RBI and a double out of the leadoff spot. 
 
Junior Austin Watkins earned his first career NCAA victory. The junior threw three innings and allowed two hits, three walks and one earned run. Kerr (one inning) and Potter (two innings) combined to throw three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and two walks to close out the game.
 
Lewis & Clark grabbed their first lead of the game in the second with a six-run frame. After Willamette retired the first two batters of the inning, the next seven River Otters reached base. Strawser opened the scoring for Lewis & Clark with a two-run double. Gonzaga followed with an RBI single to make it 6-3.  Steinhaus, Aikawa and Potter each added RBI singles to push Lewis & Clark ahead 6-5. 
 
After going down 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings, Lewis & Clark struck for 13 runs on nine hits, five walks, two errors and one wild pitch. Sandoval started the scoring with a bases-clearing, RBI double to cut the deficit to 13-9. Maury greeted the Bearcats reliever with an RBI double. Steinhaus tacked on a two-run double and Potter gave Lewis & Clark the lead with a two-run single through the right side. Junior Gavin Mangano added a two-run triple to make it 16-13. With two down, Maury added a two-run triple and Strawser capped off the scoring with an RBI infield single. 
 
Willamette would respond with one run in the top of the sixth but Stanislavsky struck out Jase Randall with a bases-loaded to snuff out the rally. 
 
Lewis & Clark added three runs in their final two at-bats. First year Trent Amoroso plated Maury with an RBI single in the seventh inning. Sophomore Evan Carrubba-Rice (double) and first year Yuma Noda (single) each added RBI hits in the eighth inning. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• With their doubleheader sweep on Sunday, the River Otters improved to 21-16 on the season. Their 21 wins are their second-most since the program went 22-14 in 1995. The 2023 team, that made it to the program's first-ever NWC and NCAA Tournament, is tied for first in program history for wins in a single-season with 31 (31-14). 
• Lewis & Clark's pitching staff set the single-season record for strikeouts on Sunday. The River Otters posted 14 strikeouts on Sunday to push their total to 282 on the season. The 2023 team set the previous record with 271 strikeouts. 
• The River Otters came into game number 37 of the season (game two on Sunday) with two triples on the year. They recorded two triples in the bottom of the fifth inning alone. 
• Lewis & Clark scored their most runs in a game since April 25, 2025. Last season, they posted 24 runs in a 24-7 game one win over Willamette University. 
• Baseball earned their first NWC series sweep of the Bearcats since at least 2006. Lewis & Clark has won seven of their last nine meetings with Willamette and all six of their home games against the Bearcats the last two seasons. 
• Maury posted his first three RBI of the season and season-highs in hits (two), runs scored (four) and walks (two). He also added his first two extra-base hits as a Lewis & Clark player. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will head to McMinnville next weekend for a three-game conference series to close out the regular season. The Wildcats (13-8) and River Otters (13-8) are tied for second in the NWC Standings and own a one-game lead over fourth-place University of Puget Sound (12-9). Game one on Saturday is scheduled for a Noon start.