SPRINGFIELD, Oregon — Make it back-to-back victories for the Walla Walla Sweets to kick off the 2025 season.

Unlike Thursday night, Springfield struck first. Left fielder Nolan Miller doubled off the wall in the second inning to open the scoring. The high-arching ball caught a strong right-to-left wind and sailed over the head of Sweets left fielder Cole Rogers.

Walla Walla wasted little time responding. In the top of the third, Jacob Talbott drove in Xavier Hattenburg with an RBI single to level the score. Hattenburg finished the night with a pair of hits and three RBIs.

On the mound, Sweets starting pitcher Tre Morse immediately showed he was in command. The right-hander allowed just one run and struck out three over three innings. His fastball topped out at 92 mph.

The Sweets grabbed their first lead of the game in the fourth inning following a series of miscues by the Drifters. Back-to-back errors by Springfield first baseman Bowman Wingard, followed by another RBI single from Hattenburg, plated two and gave Walla Walla a 3-1 advantage.

But the Drifters had an answer in the bottom half of the frame. Miller struck again, driving in two with his second double of the night to tie the game at 3-3.

Springfield took a brief 4-3 lead in the sixth, but Talbott wasn’t finished. The Sweets outfielder continued his early-season tear, knocking in two more with a base hit for his first three-RBI performance of the season — the first by any Sweets player in 2025.

“My plan was to stay aggressive, and it worked for the best,” Talbott said.

Alex Figueroa handled the final two innings on the mound for Walla Walla, striking out two and not allowing a run. Though reliever Solomon surrendered the game’s only home run in the ninth, the defense held strong. The final out came on a softly hit foul fly ball that third baseman Trevor Tse snagged out of the air near the third-base line to seal the win.

With the win, Walla Walla improves to 2-0. The Sweets will look to complete the sweep of the Drifters on Saturday. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. at Hamlin Sports Complex. Right-hander Aidan Rady, from George Fox University, is the probable starter for Walla Walla. Coverage begins five minutes before game time on Mixlr.