In the bottom of the first, the Sweets quickly loaded the bases without a hit as third baseman Trevor Tse reached on an error, and both shortstop Landon Young and designated hitter Tanner Kern drew walks. Tse came around to score on a ground ball from second baseman Troy Sanders, but Ridgefield turned a 6-4-3 double play to limit the damage. Zane Bidwell grounded out to end the inning, with Walla Walla settling for one unearned run.

In the third, Ridgefield opened with a double from Evan Jaquez, followed by a single from William Goth to put runners on the corners. Taylor Takata brought in Jaquez with a sacrifice bunt, while Goth moved up to second. Angelo Aleman and Dawson Downs were both retired on groundouts to second, ending the inning with one run scored.

The low-scoring affair continued until the fifth inning. After a flyout to start the frame for the Raptors, Takata drew a walk and was driven in by an Aleman double. Downs followed with a single to move Aleman to third, but the Raptors left the bases loaded after a lineout from Noah Karliner, a hit-by-pitch to Coleman Hollabaugh, and a strikeout from Nolan Ganter. Walla Walla pitchers Nakoa Moses-Gomera opened the game with a scoreless inning, and Aidan Cube worked 3 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs. Entering the sixth, Ridgefield led 2-1.

The Sweets added two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Caleb Richter led off with a single, followed by another from Cole Rogers. Tse laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over. Young singled to right, scoring Richter. A passed ball allowed Rogers to score and advanced Young. After a walk to Kern and a wild pitch, Sanders struck out. Bidwell worked a walk to load the bases, but Johnny Backus flew out to center to end the inning. The Sweets left the bases loaded without scoring four times in the game. Still, entering the seventh, Walla Walla led 3-2.

But the lead didn’t hold. Ridgefield scratched across two runs in the seventh. Aleman flew out to right to start the inning, but Downs reached after being hit by a pitch. Karliner followed with a single to left, moving Downs to third. Hollabaugh grounded out, bringing home Downs. An error in right field on a ball from Ganter allowed Karliner to score unearned. Ryder Cutlip then flew out to right to end the inning with Ridgefield leading 4-3.

In the bottom of the seventh and eighth, Walla Walla had chances but couldn’t level the score. That changed in the ninth. Nikhil Beasley was hit by a pitch, with Nigel Fahland coming in to run for him at first. Richter laid down a bunt and reached on a fielder’s choice and error. Rogers popped out for the first out, but Tse walked to load the bases. Young was then hit by a pitch to force in Fahland and tie the game at 4-4. After a pinch-hit walk from Ryan Prescott in his first at-bat of the season, Richter came home with the winning run.

With the win, the Sweets clinched the series and will go for the sweep Sunday night at 6:05 p.m. Watch all home broadcasts on the Walla Walla Sweets’ YouTube channel or listen live on the team’s Mixlr.