Siuslaw seniors Beau Erickson and Ethan Halpin tossed complete-game victories Wednesday to fire the Vikings baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of the Cottage Grove Lions at Jiggs Dodson Stadium, 15-0 and 9-3.

The Vikings, 8-12 overall and 3-7 in Sky-Em League play, travel to Cottage Grove on Friday for a one-game rematch. First pitch is 5 p.m.

"Beau had a great pitching game," Siuslaw coach Tom Shinn said. "He struck out eight and gave up only two hits.

"Ethan posted his highest strikeout performance of the season, tallying 12 over seven innings."

The Vikings slashed 22 hits in the twin bill, 13 in the opener that was shortened by the 10-run rule.

"We had a very good offensive performance (in the opener)," Shinn said. "It was great to see us hit the ball well. Ethan Halpin, Jason Garcia and Henry Rankin all put up multi-hit games while also driving in two runs each."

The Vikings needed to rally in the nightcap, falling behind 3-0 after three innings. Halpin finished with four shutout innings while Siuslaw scored three runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

"After a rough start, I was pleased with how the team rallied to come from behind," Shinn said. "The men showed a lot of resilience in clawing their way back from a bit of a hole.

"Younger players like Max Reynolds, who went 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Armando Galvan-Mendez, with an RBI double, really stepped up offensively."

The doubleheader sweep was the Vikings' first since May 3, 2018, when they beat 3A Jefferson 9-8 and 13-1 at Salem-Keizer Volcano Stadium.

After Friday's road game, the Vikings play four home games next week to conclude the regular season.

AFTER FRIDAY THE 13TH

The sweep all but assured the Vikings a play-in game for the OSAA Class 4A playoffs.

Siuslaw was No. 19 Thursday morning and in prime position for one of six play-in berths that are based on final rankings.

The playoffs include 24 teams, eight automatic qualifiers (6 league champions, the 2 top-ranked runner-ups) and 16 play-in teams (4 runner-ups, 6 third-place teams and 6 based on final rankings).

The Vikings have five remaining games, Friday at Cottage Grove and four home games next week, including a regular-season ending doubleheader with Marshfield on Friday, May 13. Siuslaw will be a play-in team as either the fourth- of fifth-place team in the Sky-Em League.

A really-too-early-to-predict match has Siuslaw at No. 14 Philomath (10-9), the third-place team in the Oregon West Conference.

But it really is too early to tell.

But not too early to be optimistic that a play-in game is two weeks down the road, and on the road.

First game
COTTAGE GROVE  000 00 —   0   2  3
SIUSLAW                435 3X — 15 13  3
Micah Spear, Peyton Glenn (3) and JJ Thornton; Beau Erickson and Jason Garcia.
WP — Beau Erickson. LP — Micah Spear.

Second game
COTTAGE GROVE  012 000 0 — 3  6  3
SIUSLAW                000 333 X — 9  9  2
Christian Spear and JJ Thornton; Ethan Halpin and Henry Rankin.
WP — Ethan Halpin. LP — Christian Spear.

SIUSLAW RECORD
Record: 8-12 overall, 3-7 Sky-Em League
March 15 — Siuslaw 7, at Sutherlin 1, 1st game
March 15 — Siuslaw 7, at Sutherlin 5, 2nd game
March 18 — at Mazama 9, Siuslaw 2, at Klamath Falls
March 19 — Siuslaw 13, at Klamath Union 3, 5 innings, 1st game
March 19 — Siuslaw 22, at Klamath Union 0, 3 innings, 2nd game
March 25 — at Siuslaw 9, Coquille 2
April 1 — Pleasant Hill 12, at Siuslaw 9, 1st game
April 1 — Pleasant Hill 6, at Siuslaw 5, 2nd game, 5 innings, darkness
April 5 — Hidden Valley 8, at Siuslaw 2
April 7 — Creswell 5, at Siuslaw 2
April 12 — at Marist, postponed
April 15 — Junction City 5, at Siuslaw 1, 1st game
April 15 — Junction City 11, at Siuslaw 2, 2nd game
April 18 — at Marist, 5 p.m.
April 19 — Cottage Grove, postponed
April 21 — at Marist 12, Siuslaw 2, 5 innings
April 22 — Elmira-Triangle Lake 9, Siuslaw 3, 1st game, at Elmira
April 22 — Siuslaw 5, at Elmira-Triangle Lake 4, 2nd game, at Elmira
April 26 — at Marshfield 11, Siuslaw 4
April 29 — Marist 9, at Siuslaw 0, 1st game
April 29 — Marist 3, at Siuslaw 0, 2nd game, suspended after 3 innings
May 3 — at Junction City 10, Siuslaw 1
May 4 — at Siuslaw 15, Cottage Grove 0, 5 innings
May 4 — at Siuslaw 9, Cottage Grove 3
Friday, May 6 — at Cottage Grove, 5 p.m.
Monday, May 9 — Marist, 5 p.m. (completion of suspended game)
Tuesday, May 10 — Elmira-Triangle Lake, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 13 — Marshfield (DH), 3 p.m.

VARSITY ROSTER
  1 Eaden Mead, sophomore, infielder/RHP
  2 Isaac Garza, senior, RHP/2B
  3 Noah Dotson, junior, OF/RHP
  4 Beau Erickson, senior, SS/RHP
  5 Victor Ayala, junior, U/OF
  9 Ethan Halpin, senior, RHP/1B
10 Henry Rankin, senior, C/1B
12 Ian Sissel, junior, OF/C
13 Jason Garcia, senior, RHP/U
14 Joel Sissel, freshman, OF/RHP
15 Jacob Welton, junior, RHP/OF
21 Andrew Jensen-Norman, sophomore, RHP/1B
22 Max Reynolds, freshman, U
34 Armando Galvan-Mendez, sophomore, 3B
Coach: Tom Shinn
Assistants: Dan Rankin, Jim Baxter (JV head coach)