Elks sweep Drifters away
Ty Silva’s first homer of his Elks career highlighted Bend’s outstanding offense. (Sage Young)
Bend, OR - Bend cleaned up Thursday night, finishing off its first sweep of Springfield in franchise history with a complete game 9-3 showing to close out the six-game set between the two squads.
After missing out on its first chance at sweeping Springfield (3-9, 3-9) last Sunday at Hamlin Sports Complex, Bend (7-5, 7-5) left no doubt this time around on its home turf with a stretch of eight unanswered runs to send the Drifters packing.
Similar to last Sunday's series finale, the Elks found themselves in an early 2-0 hole. Yet, there would be no offensive lull from Bend on Thursday as the Elks immediately erased the deficit on one Ty Silva swing. The second-year Elks launched a 376-foot moon shot over the left field wall for his first hit of the season and first extra-base hit of his Elks career.
The Elks added two more tallies to its total on Bend native Kaleb Karpstein's RBI single in the fourth and an Alejandro Cazorla sacrifice fly as part of a small ball sixth inning.
But Bend turned its brooms into a sweeper in the seventh with a four-spot filled with all sorts of offense from a one-run single from Andrew Guidara to later scoring on a wild pitch, a Josh Wakefield sacrifice fly and Ty Silva RBI walk.
The Elks racked up 14 hits in every game of the series and outscored Springfield 27 to nine over the three-game stretch.
On the bump, Bend shined through once again. The brotherly duo of Andrew and Brian Harbour hummed through the Drifters' lineup, silencing Springfield with five straight scoreless frames to secure the sweep for the Elks in both of their season debuts. The elder Harbour Andrew (1-0) earned the win, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced with one strikeout.
After winning five of the six games against Springfield over the past week, Bend welcomes the Portland Pickles to town for the weekend. First pitch is set for Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Vince Genna Stadium. Get your tickets now!
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