Extra inning Elks top Springfield to secure series

Simon Lemke stranded three Drifters in his clutch save performance. (Sage Young)

Springfield, OR - The Bend Elks earned an electric 4-3 extra-inning win to clinch the series over Springfield in a back-and-forth Saturday night showdown at Hamlin Sports Complex.

With the teams tied at three entering the 10th inning, Ryan Christiansen worked his way on to first via a hit-by-pitch. A few pitches later, he darted for second, where former Elk and current Drifter catcher Dane Woodcock made an offline throw into center field, allowing Christiansen to continue on to third.

In the ensuing moments, Trevor Hammond (0-1) threw a wild pitch that got past Woodcock, causing Christiansen to come down the line to give the Elks the lead.

Simon Lemke was tasked with closing it down on the hill for the Elks, and despite some bases-loaded dramatics, the hometown kid came through in the clutch to secure the series and get Bend (4-4, 4-4) back to .500.

The Elks seemed to use the momentum of their four-run comeback from the night before to jump out to an early one run lead on an RBI double from Easton Amundson. Unfortunately. that lead quickly vanished as Springfield (2-6, 2-6) responded with two unearned runs in the second to take the lead.

Luckily for Elks, they have Jace Miller. The Portland product produced half of Bend’s runs and helped push the game to extras with a solo homer in the fifth to tie the game and sac line out in the ninth that gave the Elks a temporary lead until the Drifters responded with an Andy Miller RBI triple in the ninth. 

Nevertheless, calm and collected pitching by Ethan Lay (1-0), who picked up the win in his Elks debut, helped strand Miller at third and force extra baseball to decide the contest. The ruling ended in the Elks' favor.

Saturday marks the second time in the last two seasons that Bend has beaten Springfield in extra innings after the Elks bested the Drifters in a 14-inning marathon at Vince Genna Stadium last August.

Bend will attempt to complete its first sweep of the season against Springfield on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. before heading back home to Bend to face the Drifters in a second three-game set at Genna.

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