Mail Tribune Sports - T'jacks rally to upend Indians

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2000-09-14

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T'jacks rally to upend Indians SPOKANE -- Mike Lockwood continued his torrid hitting, Justin Hall delivered the game-winning hit and Matt Gage pitched brilliantly in relief as the Southern Oregon Timberjacks came from behind to beat the Spokane Indians 6-5 Saturday in Northwest League play. Lockwood went 3-for-4 at the plate to extend his hitting streak to seven games. The Timberjacks trailed 5-4 heading into the eighth inning when they rallied for a pair of runs and made them stand up for their 13th victory against nine losses this season. Kirk Asche ignited the rally for Southern Oregon when he doubled to right off losing pitcher Jesse Kurtz-Nichol. One out later, Lockwood laced a double to left field, scoring Asche and tying the game at 5. The Indians then brought in Raul Garcia -- their fifth pitcher of the game -- but after throwing a wild pitch, walking Gerald Laird and striking out Matt Howe, he surrendered the game-winning hit to Hall. Lockwood is batting a torrid .600 (15-for-25) during his hitting streak. Gage, a right-hander out of Iowa State, yielded a two-run homer to Ken Harvey in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Indians a 5-4 lead, but he bore down the rest of the way and improved his record to 3-2. Gage gave up four hits in four innings of work, striking out six and walking only one. Spokane got a runner on base in each of the last two innings, but Timberjacks catcher Aaron Nieckula threw them both out trying to steal second. With the win, Southern Oregon snapped a two-game losing streak and stretched its Southern Division lead over the Portland Rockies to three games. The Timberjacks and Indians square off again today at 3:05 p.m. in the fourth game of a five-game series. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune   Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.