FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 8th, 2026
Salem, Ore.| Warner Pacific Knights Baseball played their final nonconference contest of the season and took the win 6-4 surpassing their win total from last season.
The Knights in this one got down early giving up a run to the Bearcats early in the first inning when Trevor Sostman hit a sharp single to right field scoring Nate Hamburger.
Payton Smith got the start for the Knights and after giving up a run early, he really settled down and pitched masterfully going four innings. Smith gave way to Southpaw
Hank Kern after giving up just three hits and the one earned run. Kern made his first appearance since a tough outing against Oregon Tech and rebounded fairly well going three innings giving up five hits and giving up three runs of which just one of them was earned.
The Knights didn't score in this game until the sixth inning of this one, and it was a big hit by
Colby Barnes. Barnes hit a two-run bomb to left field it was his first dinger of the season and was his second as a Knight going back to the 2025 campaign. The Knights carried that momentum gained from the sixth inning and implemented it in the seventh when the Knights scored three more runs.
Jarrod Seibel hit a two-run single and then scored all the way from first on a spicy triple placed perfectly down the right field line off the bat of
Trenten Lowe. It was Lowe's fourth knock of the season and eighth in his Knights career. The Bearcats answered in the bottom of the seventh, getting a run off a throwing error as well as a couple more on a couple of RBI knocks bringing the score to 5-4.
Going into the ninth inning, the Knights held on to a one-run lead and looked to get some insurance by adding a run or two. Insurance is exactly what they got when
Mason Deverna slammed a double threw the gap in right-center field scoring
Mitchell Thoma-Britt, giving the Knights a deciding 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the ninth,
Donny Tober was asked to come in and slam the door and slam the door he did earning his first save as a Knight. Tober gave up a lead off walk but ended up still facing the minimum, striking out the second batter and then getting the third batter to roll over to the first baseman who stepped on first and then completed the double play by tossing the rock down to second.
Next Up
The Knights with tonight's win have surpassed their win total from the 2025 campaign and now sit with a record of 13-25. The WarnerPac will now look forward to Senior Weekend coming up against Bushnell University starting with a double-header on April 11th. The games on Saturday will start at 11am and 2pm at Milwaukie High School.
