Apr 4, 2009

GEORGE FOX 8-12, WHITWORTH 4-11: Bruins Regain NWC Lead with Comeback Sweep of Pirates

SPOKANE, Wash. – Locked in a tight three-team battle for the Northwest Conference baseball crown, the George Fox University Bruins regained the percentage-point league lead with a pair of comeback victories, 8-4 and 12-11, over the Whitworth University Pirates in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon here at Merkel Field.

With the sweep, George Fox is now 19-6 overall and 14-2 (.875) in the conference, while Whitworth dropped further in the cellar to 4-20 overall and 2-16 in the league. Former league leader Linfield College split at home with Pacific University, losing 6-3 before winning 7-6 in 10 innings, leaving the Wildcats at 21-5 overall and 15-3 (.833) in the conference, though they and the Bruins are even in games over .500. Third-place Pacific Lutheran University (18-7, NWC 14-4, .778) was idle.

In the opening game, the Bruins scored single runs on an RBI single by Dan Winterstein in the 4th and a passed ball that allowed Brent Trask to score in the 5th. The Pirates got one back in the 5th on a run-scoring single by Dan Belet, and took the lead in the 6th with a sacrifice fly by Mitch Nelson and a squeeze bunt by Chris Bartenhagen.

George Fox then put three runs together in both the 7th and 9th innings to pull out the win. In the 7th, Taylor Hunter singled in Trask with the tying run, Matt Wyckoff singled in Hunter with the go-ahead run, and Bo Thunell’s RBI double plated Wyckoff. In the 9th, Hunter started things off with a solo home run, his first of the season, Cody Curtin tripled in Thunell, and Winterstein singled in Curtin. Nelson hit his second home run of the season in the 9th for the Pirates’ final run.

Nick Bratney (3-2) pitched a complete game for George Fox, allowing four runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Nathan Johnson (1-3) went 8.2 innings for the Pirates and gave up seven earned runs on 14 hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Thunell had three hits and scored twice for the Bruins, while Hunter added three hits and drove in two runs. Wyckoff and Winterstein had two hits each. Chad Flett, J.R. Jarrell, Luis Tovar, and Andrew Durant had two hits apiece for the Pirates.

In the nightcap, the Bruins built a 7-1 lead after 2 1/2 innings and led 10-3 after 5 1/2, only to have the Pirates rally for eight runs in the bottom of the 6th to grab an 11-10 lead. Thunell hit a two-run homer in the 1st, added a two-run double in a four-run 2nd, and slugged a three-run homer, his fourth of the season, in the 6th, sparking the Bruins to their big leads.

In the Whitworth eight-run 6th, the Pirates’ biggest inning of the season, J.R. Jarrell hit a three-run homer, his third of the year, to pull the home team within 10-7. Kevin Valerio added a three-run shot later in the inning, his first, to put the Pirates up 11-10.

The Bruins tied the game in the 7th on Curtin's RBI single that scored Jason Brown. In the 9th, Curtin doubled with two out and Wyckoff came through with yet another clutch hit, singling through the left side for the go-ahead run.

Travis Schroeder (4-2) pitched two innings of perfect relief to pick up the win for George Fox, while Chad Jones tossed the 9th and allowed only a single to earn his fourth save. Whitworth's Peter Birdwell (1-6) pitched the final two innings and gave up the final run.

Thunell went 3-for-6 and drove in seven runs to lead the Bruins, who had 16 hits. Wyckoff added three hits with two RBIs and three runs scored. Curtin, Winterstein, Seth Anderson, and Michael Woo had two hits each, with Curtin scoring three times.

Landon Scott went 4-for-5 to pace the Pirates, who had their second-highest hit total of the season with 19. Flett, Jarrell, and Valerio each had three hits, with Jarrell and Valerio collecting three RBIs apiece.

The Bruins and Pirates will conclude their four-game series with a pair of seven-inning games Sunday at 12:00 noon.