Boyer lifts baseball past Northern Colorado

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Selena Favela

Sophomore Luke Ritter is met by teammates on the field after scoring against Northern Colorado.

Infielder Jordan Boyer got off to a red hot start after missing the opening season series due to illness. Boyer’s grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning gave him his first home run of the season and electrified a 10-4 victory over Northern Colorado on Wednesday at Eck Stadium.

Dayton Dugas got the Shockers started with an RBI single that drove in Sam Goodwin from second base to give WSU a one-run lead in the bottom of the second. Singles by Boyer and Trey Vickers extended the Shockers’ lead 3-0 after the second.

Two home runs by Northern Colorado tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fourth inning before a two-out RBI gave Northern Colorado their first and only lead of the afternoon. Greyson Jenista tied the game again in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI double to left-center field.

Vickers responded with a single down the middle of the field that would score the go-ahead run. Boyer’s home run gave the Shockers six runs for the half inning and opened the gap up to five runs.

Jenista brought in WSU’s final with a double to bring in Luke Ritter from second base, ending the game on a 7-0 scoring run. Adam Keller got his second win of the season, coming into relief for 1.1 innings, striking out three of his six batters.

The Shockers used seven pitchers that combined for 15 strikeouts to shutout Northern Colorado for the final five innings of the game. Four WSU players brought in two hits a piece, totaling 13 for the game.

WSU (10-6) travels to California for a three-game series with Cal Poly. First game is on Friday at 3 p.m.