Newly named Vern Kindsfather Field at Clark College had to wait a couple of days to see its first Penguins baseball victory.
Clark split a rain-delayed doubleheader with regional rival Lower Columbia on Monday, winning the nightcap 4-3.
Lower Columbia took the opener 8-3.
Jake Dowers picked up the win for Clark, pitching a complete-game five hitter. He had two strikeouts.
“He did a great job holding them to five hits,” Clark coach Don Freeman said. “He stayed smooth and pounded the strike zone. He didn’t have many strikeouts, but the bottom line is we played tremendous defense.”
Lower Columbia had a 3-0 lead after three innings, and Clark cut it to 3-2 thanks to Bryce McKinney’s two-run double in the sixth.
In the bottom of the seventh, Clark started with Joel Johnson’s single and then Nick Woods walked. Evan Pickett drove in Johnson to tie the game.
Washougal grad Cory Henning then hit a “Baltimore chop” — a ball that went “straight down and then straight up,” as Freeman described — allowing Woods to score the winning run.
“It was surprising to see that considering how much rain our field has taken,” Freeman said. “Our field played well. It’s exciting how far it’s come along.”
Johnson had three of Clark’s 11 hits.
The first game was the continuation of a contest suspended by rain on Saturday with the Devils leading 7-1. Skyview grad Jeff Ames started for LCC and threw 50 pitches on Saturday, then pitched into the ninth on Monday to earn the win.
“He threw well,” Freeman said of Ames. “It took our guys a while to adjust to him.”
Clark (11-24, 6-12 NWAACC West Division) had six hits in the loss. McKinney was 2 for 4 with two RBI, and Woods was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Clark travels to Longview on Wednesday for a rematch doubleheader against Lower Columbia (26-8, 14-4). The first game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
