WNC Baseball: Wildcats Win on Lewis' Walk-Off Double

Freshman outfielder Bradley Lewis delivered Western Nevada College's second walk-off victory of the 2015 season on Friday afternoon against Utah State University Eastern. Lewis stroked a walk-off double to score Jon Guzman as the Wildcats rallied for a 7-6 baseball victory over the Golden Eagles at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

"I was looking to put the ball in the right-center gap because I noticed the flag blowing the other way," Lewis said. "It wasn't necessary to pull the ball, so I was trying to hit the ball to that side to move the guy over and get the next guy up. I hit it farther than I thought."

The Wildcats, however, dropped the second game of the doubleheader, 1-0, despite the three-hit pitching of Kyle Johnson and Ty Fox, ending the team's win streak at six games.

Freshman catcher Tim Lichty, who provided the only other walk-off win for the Wildcats against Salt Lake on March 6, came through with a three-run double in the sixth inning to put WNC ahead 6-5.

"We fight, we grind, until the end," Lewis said. "We got a two-out rally going and Tim came up and scored three guys; that was huge."

Lewis entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and was excited to hit with a chance to lead his team to victory. But Lewis' opportunity to win the game was only made possible by a two-out single by Guzman.
"Brad got ahead 2 and 1, then did a great job," WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said. "A couple of freshmen to win a ball game in the last at-bat, that feels really good.

Four walks preceded Lichty's bases-clearing double in the sixth inning, when the Wildcats turned a three-run deficit into a one-run lead.

"(Reliever Hadley) Thorpe came in and closed the door against us in Vegas when they beat us. Today, it's a little later in the season and our seeing the ball a little bit better, we were able to lay off some of the sliders he was throwing," Whittemore said.

After Lichty's momentum-swinging double, the Golden Eagles battled back to tie the score in their final at-bat. When the first two hitters reached base, Whittemore elected to go to his bullpen, bringing in Kyle Thompson for his fourth relief appearance of the season. After giving up a game-tying RBI single to Thorpe, Thompson retired the next two hitters to keep the score 6-6.

"It was awesome to come in and help the team out," said Thompson, who picked up his first win of the season. "I was in there trying to minimize the damage. I was trying to save it for Matt (Young) because he worked hard."
Thompson's composure in the tight game impressed Whittemore.

"We've been through a lot this year, losing (21 games), but we've learned a lot from each one of those losses," Whittemore said. "One of the things you learn is that you control the next pitch and you keep fighting that next pitch. Kyle gave up that bloop single to tie the game, but he didn't let it affect him.
"He gives us one more option and it's nice to have."

With the twin bill split, the Wildcats (30-21 overall) guaranteed their 10th straight winning season.
Eastern Utah went ahead 1-0 in the third inning as Bryce Blackburn scored from third base while the Wildcats were turning a double play.

The Golden Eagles added to their lead, scoring twice in the fourth inning. Greg Money and Thorpe scored while the Wildcats were attempting to pull off an around-the-horn double play. Money scored easily, and Thorpe was able to take an extra base when the ball slipped out of Wildcat second baseman David Modler's throwing hand as he was trying to turn the second half of the attempted double play.

WNC spoiled Bennett Bradford's shutout bid by producing a run in its half of the fourth inning. Corey Pool belted a double and came home on a two-bagger by Kody Reynolds to creep within 3-1. The Wildcats, however, left the bases loaded.

After Jake Bennett lined out to short to start the fifth, Bradford walked Modler and Pool, ending his outing. Eastern Utah brought in Dakota Carlson, who blanked the Wildcats over the final three innings of Thursday's game.

Carlson hit Lichty with a pitch to fill the bases and then gave up a wind-blown sacrifice fly by Reynolds to right, cutting Eastern Utah's lead to 3-2. Pool and Lichty also advanced a base on Reynolds' fly ball, but right fielder Brandon Eyring made a sliding catch of Austin Andrews' fly ball to shallow right field, preserving the Golden Eagles' one-run lead. Eastern Utah restored its three-run lead by scoring two runs off Young in the sixth.

Freshman DJ Peters started on the mound for the Wildcats. In his longest outing of the season, Peters gave up two hits and an earned run through three innings. He struck out four and issued one walk.

Young relieved Peters to start the fourth and gave up five hits and four runs in three innings. Pool reached base in three of his four at-bats and scored two runs. Modler also crossed the plate twice, and Reynolds knocked in two teammates.

In game two, the pitchers shined as Eastern Utah's Skyler Thorpe battled WNC's Johnson and Fox.

Both teams produced ample chances to score before the Golden Eagles marked the lone run on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. The Wildcats left the bases loaded in the first inning and a runner in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings, Eastern Utah stranded three base runners in the fourth inning but came up with the decisive run in the sixth. With Money on second base and two outs, Blackburn doubled to center to provide the Golden Eagles with the game's only run.

Lewis singled off Skyler Thorpe with two outs in the seventh, but Bennett grounded out to second base for the final out.

Johnson allowed just two hits in 3 1/3 innings, while Fox (5-2) one-hit the Golden Eagles the rest of the way. Fox fanned three and walked one. Skyler Thorpe scattered eight hits in going the distance and struck out five.
Brogan Secrist topped WNC hitters by going 3 for 3. Bennett and Reynolds collected a pair of hits.

The two teams will conclude their four-game series with a noon contest Saturday. Whittemore will honor his nine sophomores prior to the first pitch.