MT. CARMEL, ILL. – A five-run sixth inning opened a tie game, leading Wabash Valley to a 7-2 win in the second game of a Great Rivers Athletic Conference doubleheader and a sweep over John A. Logan on Thursday.
In the opener, the No. 1-ranked Warriors jumped to an early lead then held off the 15th-ranked Vols, 8-6.
WVC improved to 36-2 overall and 17-1 in the GRAC with the wins. Logan slipped to 34-10 and 15-7.
With the score tied, 1-1, the Warriors opened the decisive sixth by walking the bases full. After the next two batters struck out, the Warriors finally scored the go-ahead run on an infield single from Curtis Washington, Jr., scoring Freylin Minyety.
With the bases still full, Connor Olson was hit by a pitch, scoring Jonathan Nieves to make it 3-1. The biggest blow of the inning came next, a single to left off the bat of Savier Pinales, which brought home Jonathan Hogart and Washington to make it 5-1.
One walk later, and once again with the bases jammed, Minyety batted for a second time, walking again to force home Olson for the fifth run of the frame.
Logan scored one run in the eighth to narrow the deficit to 7-2, the Warriors matched it in the home half on an RBI single by Minyety, scoring Pinales.
The Warriors first run of the game came in the third inning when Washington, Jr. hit a mammoth home run off the top of the scoreboard in left field – his fifth of the year.
Beau Coffman (4-0) got the win. He came on in relief of starter Pablo Suarez in the fifth. Jake Strmska worked the final two innings to preserve the nitecap win.
As it turned out, a two-run home run by Olson in the third inning of the opener was the game-winning blow.
His second homer of the season put the Warriors ahead, 8-4. Logan crept closer with single-run tallies in the fifth and seventh to make it 8-6. And the Vols had the go-ahead run at the plate when centerfielder Washington, Jr. caught a liner off the bat of Logan pinch hitter Peyton Henry to end the game.
Both teams scored one run in the first. The Warrior run came when Minyety scored on a passed ball.
WVC then added five runs in the second to make it 6-1. Olson walked with the bases full, followed by an RBI| single from Pinales. After Payton Pennington made it 4-1 with a run-scoring hit, the next two Warrior runs came on outs – a Minyety ground ball, and a sacrifice fly from Nieves.
Logan scored three in the top of the fourth to close to 6-4, before Olsen's two-run shot in the home half put the margin back at four runs, 8-4.
That was enough in the end.
Starter Jason Bollman (6-1) went five innings to pick up the win, becoming the third Warrior hurler with six wins.
Keegan Batka and Scott Harper each tossed one inning in relief.
Wabash Valley will head to Carterville on Sunday to complete the four-game series with a doubleheader at Logan. The first pitch is set for 12-noon.