Elks Pitching Shines in Win Over Raptors to Snap Losing Skid

Jake Green closed out another stellar outing for Elks pitching. (Andrew Green)

Ridgefield, WA. - The Bend Elks bounced back from an 11-inning heartbreaker the night before with a 5-3 win over the Ridgefield Raptors to even the series, ending the Elks' five-game losing streak and Raptors' 11-game-win streak.

The Bend Bullpen came through as it had in game one, limiting Ridgefield to just one run over the final seven innings while striking out double-digit batters for the second straight night. U.C. Davis right-hander Kaden Hogan (1-0) led the way tossing three innings, surrendering just two hits with an impressive seven strikeouts.

Bend jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Ethan Thomas but found themselves trailing 2-1 after the Raptors took advantage of two Elk errors aided by a sac-fly from Isaac Lovings. That lead didn't last long as Bend answered with four runs in the third on a two-RBI double from Niko Rosell, followed by a two-run single by Kody Watanabe to give the Elks a three-run lead they would milk the rest of the way.

Ridgefield shut down Bend's bats from that point on, retiring 18 of the next 20 batters they faced, including five strikeouts. Nevertheless, the Elks were able to match the pitching of the Raptors, getting out of several jambs with runners in scoring position; the lone exception being a pinch hit sac-fly from Jake Tsukada in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave Ridgefield its only run beyond the first two frames.

Luca Dipaolo and Thomas were the only Elks to record two hits. Thomas finished with multiple hits for the second straight game, while Dipaolo kept his hitting streak alive, posting a hit in all five games he has played this summer.

Bend (11-13, 8-12) and Ridgefield (16-8, 15-7) meet Thursday in the rubber game at 6:35 p.m. as the Elks seek their first-ever road series win over the Raptors.