Bellevue College baseball opened their 2026 season with a thrilling extra inning win, but ultimately lost the four game series to visiting Spokane. The four game set was one the three marquis matchups on NWAC opening weekend, as both teams were in the NWAC Championships last spring, and are currently ranked in the NWAC Pre-Season Poll, with Spokane ranked third and Bellevue coming in at sixth.
Caden Kennelly’s walkoff single in the bottom of the 12th inning won the season opener for the Bulldogs, scoring Elliot Oster, who stole third after being placed a second base with the game being played with the international tie-breaker rule that is used for pre-season play. After a pair of extra innings in which each team scored a run, BC’s Michael Komola came up big for the ‘dogs, striking out the leadoff batter before coaxing the next two Sasquatch batters to fly out, preventing any Spokane run in te top of the 12th, setting the stage for Kennelly’s heroics.
In game two, a 12-3 loss, the Bulldogs found themselves down 3-0 but fought back with a three run third on an Oster double. Kennelly was able to stay in a rundown on a first and third situation allowing Oster to score to tie the game at 3-3. A costly error allowed Spokane to put up five runs in the sixth, taking the steam out of the Bulldogs for the remainder of the game.
On Sun. Feb. 15, Bellevue’s Thoma Holden doubled to bring in Bobby Trigg to close a Spokane lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the ‘dogs could get no closer, despite a heroic bullpen outing and season debut by Thomas Wood, who entered the game with runners at the corners, and struck out consecutive batters to end the threat. Wood ended up with four strikeouts and no walks in 2.2 innings of shutout relief.
The series finale found the Bulldogs short on pitching as they were forced to use position players to finish out the final game, a 13-1 loss. With three of their four projected starters out (Colin Fraser, Orlando Young, injury, and Will Woodward, commitment to Bellevue College men’s basketball until mid-March), the Bulldog relievers surrendered eight runs in the late innings to contribute to the blowout loss. Holden was two-for-two offensively.
Bellevue travels to Longview this weekend, facing the #1 ranked Lower Columbia Red Devils, as the ‘dogs play two of the top three ranked teams to open the season. First pitch in Longview this Sat. Feb. 22 is set for 2 P.M.
Last Updated February 16, 2026
