Elks Give Up Four in the Ninth, Blow Comeback Win Against Walla Walla

The Elks put chipped away at Walla Walla throughout the night but came up short at the end. (Andrew Green)

Bend, OR. - The Bend Elks rallied from down 5-0 at one point to tie the game 7-7 going into the ninth inning, where the Walla Walla Sweets would score four runs to break the draw and put the Elks walk-off hopes to rest with an 11-7 win to even the series.

The Elks went scoreless through the first three innings and found themselves in a deep five-run hole after a three-run homer by Logan Meyer and an Andrew Graham two-out RBI double to complete the four spot in the second inning. The Sweets tacked on one more to its early advantage in the fourth on an RBI groundout from Payton Knowles. From then on, the Elks had an answer to every Wall Walla punch; scoring runs in each of the next five innings to tie the game heading into the final frame.

Unfortunately for the Elks, the back end of the bullpen consisting of Shane Buchanan and Ethan Krupp couldn't shut the door, surrendering four walks and three hits in the top of the final frame to seal the deal for the Sweets. Buchanan (0-1) took the loss allowing one hit, two walks, and two earned runs.

Offensively, the Elks benefited immensely from the monster performance from Ruben Cedillo, who accounted for half of the Elks' eight hits, going four for four with an RBI, two walks, two steals, and two runs scored. The Oregon State Beaver reached base in all six of his at-bats, the most by any Elks player this season. Outside of Cedillo's masterful plate production, the Elks took advantage of 13 walks and four errors by the Sweets.

Bend (12-15, 9-14) and Walla Walla (11-17, 8-15) meet in the fireworks rubber match Sunday at 6:05 at Vince Genna Stadium.