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TJs squander lead, hold on for 11-9 win By KRIS HENRY Southern Oregon continued its habit of making things interesting until the final out, nearly blowing a six-run lead before settling down for an 11-9 win over Yakima Friday night at Miles Field. Kirk Asche hit his team-leading seventh home run and Mike Lockwood extended his hitting streak to 12 games to pace the Timberjacks in the Northwest League contest. Despite their big lead, the TJs weren't able to breathe a sigh of relief until Jay Crawford struck out Hayden Kluver in the ninth inning with a runner on first base. Friday's outcome marked the third straight time this series that the game was decided in the ninth inning. Southern Oregon (16-11) and Yakima (14-12) will go at it again tonight at 7 in the fourth game of the five-game series. The Southern Division-leading Timberjacks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning as Matt Forbes, Lockwood and Jeremy Schied each had RBIs. The fourth TJs run scored when Gerald Laird's grounder bounced off second baseman Josh Dalton's ankle and allowed Schied to score from second. After Lockwood's third home run of the season made it 5-0, Yakima cut the lead to 5-3 thanks to an RBI single by Lamont Matthews and a two-run homer by Sandy Vasquez. The teams traded runs before the TJs scored three times in the fourth to boost their lead to 9-4. Jorge Soto supplied a sacrifice fly to center to score Forbes, and Asche followed with a two-run blast over the fence. Trailing 11-5, the Bears roared back in the seventh with two runs and then used two-out doubles by John Rozich and Kevin Covington in the ninth to set the stage for another wild finish. Jim Goelz answered the challenge with an RBI single to make it 11-9, only to be left stranded when Kluver struck out swinging. Nate Hilton picked up his first win of the season for the TJs, allowing five runs in five innings. Crawford pitched the final two innings to earn his second save. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.