Wolves Bash Five Home Runs in Win

Western Oregon tops Grand Canyon 10-4 in series opener

(Phoenix, AZ) - Western Oregon found desert air to its liking, at least in today`s opener of a four-game series with Grand Canyon University.

The Wolves played long ball with five home runs and 13 hits during a 10-4 NCAA Division II west region baseball game on Friday afternoon at Brazell Stadium. The victory moved WOU`s record to 3-2, while Grand Canyon fell to 5-7.

WOU, ranked 17th in this week`s Collegiate Baseball national poll, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of a two-run shot by Jason Pohl. Leftfielder Brent Mertens added another two-run blast in the third inning, followed by Matt Skundrick`s solo bomb in the fifth, Whitney Wilson`s two-run homer in the eighth and Kevin Corrigan`s two-run shot in the ninth.

It was Corrigan`s third home run in five games. Mertens` homer was one of three hits that he had on the day. The Wolves handed ?Lope starter Scott Welch his first loss of the year (3-1), banging 12 hits against him and 13 overall. Paul Fisher, Skundrick, Corrigan and Aaron Sutton all had two hits each for WOU.

Junior pitcher Nick Waechter moved to 2-0 on the season with the victory, giving up three runs in seven innings of work. He fanned five batters and walked two.

The loss was the fourth straight for Grand Canyon. The two teams will continue the four-game set on Saturday afternoon with a noon doubleheader.