Bend’s story of shortcomings costs Elks season series vs. Portland

Bend didn’t play up to par on in all facets of the game. (Sage Young)

Portland, OR - Bend followed the same plot from Friday in game two of its series against Portland, except that its offensive climax flipped from the end of the game to the beginning, having a lone burst of scoring that proved not to be enough as the Elks fell in the season series to Portland.

Bend (24-14,21-14), who went scoreless through the first seven frames of game one, struck the scoreboard first Saturday, scoring four runs in the second inning on back-to-back two RBI doubles by Isaiah Burke and Tyler Peterson.

But that would mark virtually the end of the Elks offensive production, only accumulating one hit over the later seven innings.

On the mound, the theme of atypical command struggles continued into the Saturday night sequel as Bend hurlers gave away 11 free passes for the second straight game.

The central character, Jackson Elder (1-1), was at the root of the command conflict, walking more batters in one game (5) than he had all season up to that point (3). 

This placed extra base Pickles (30-9, 25-9) on the base paths, putting pressure on the Elks' defense to perform, causing a new theme of errors to emerge.  

Abbrie Covarrubias committed three uncharacteristic errors, causing two unearned to come across for the Pickles that ultimately turned out to be the difference in the game. 

Bend will look to write a new winning narrative Sunday and salvage the series finale. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. at Walker Stadium.

Box Score