Bellevue College baseball had four close games but unfortunately fell on the short end as they were swept by the host Lower Columbia Red Devils over the weekend in Longview, WA. Making their annual pre-season trip to the host site of the NWAC Championships, the Bulldogs had a 7-5 lead in the opener but fell 11-8. The offense outhit the Red Devils 11-8 as Caden Kennelly was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. The ‘dogs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but gave it right back as the Bulldog pitchers suffered control issues, walking eight batters along with a hit by pitch in the first three innings. Control problems continued to plague BC’s pitchers as a walk and consecutive hit by pitches led to a big four run inning for the Red Devils in the sixth.
The Bulldogs were shutout 4-0 in the nightcap on Saturday as Lower Columbia’s Quinn Hubbs, a Gonzaga signee, tossed six innings of four hit shutout ball with only one walk while striking out seven. Grady Davis was the tough luck loser on the mound for the second week in a row.
On Sun. Feb. 22, the Bulldogs and Red Devils had two pitchers’ duels in two low scoring games as Bellevue were narrowly defeated 3-1 and 2-1; the latter going into extra innings. In the opening Sunday loss, Alvin Chang got the Bulldogs on the board with a sacrifice fly to score Luca Morales in the fifth. But the Red Devils answered in the bottom with a big two out double. Lower Columbia again delivered the big hit in the eighth after a single and two consecutive walks in sacrifice bunt situations opened the door for the Red Devil win. The series finale was won on a sacrifice fly off reliever Tyler Maurer, who replaced the injured Zan Siebersma who was brilliant in his debut in the eighth.
The Bulldogs continue their tough pre-season schedule to face Tacoma, who are currently ranked fourth in the NWAC Coaches’ Poll. Games are set for Sat. Feb. 28 at noon at Tacoma CC then Sun. Mar. 1 at Courter Field with a first pitch at 1 P.M. After this weekend the Bulldogs will have faced the #1 (Lower Columbia), #3 (Spokane), and #4 (Tacoma) ranked teams in the NWAC.
Last Updated February 23, 2026
