Elks have an off-performance in opener at Portland

Easton Amundson served as a bright spot in the Elks loss with his second homer of the season. (Sage Young)

Portland, OR - Bend’s phenomenal pitching staff finally faltered, giving away an abnormal 11 free passes that allowed Portland to push past the Elks 9-2 in the series opener Friday at Walker Stadium.

Bend (24-13, 21-13) starter Lucas Hines (2-3) and Simon Lemke combined for all eight of the Elks walks issued out to the Pickles (29-9, 24-9), causing Portland to punish Bend with seven runs across the first four frames.

The Elks offense, meanwhile, could not muster a response to make up for the damage, going scoreless over the first seven frames. Portland Pitchers Noel Valdez (1-0) and Shay Timmer combined to retire 21 of the 29 batters they faced.

Bend had multiple opportunities to cash in but failed to do so up until the eighth when Easton Amundson smacked a two-run opposite-field home run to get the Elks on the board and snap the shutout.

The WCL All-Star now joins Jace Miller as the only Elks with multiple homers this season.

Porter Rovin helped anchor Bend’s ship amidst the choppy pitching waves by tossing three and a third scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

Yet, The Pickles would storm up another pair of runs in response to Amundoson’s home run to close out the game-one victory.

Bend will look to get back even in the series with the Pickles on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Walker Stadium.