NCAA WEST REGIONAL: Bruins Open Regional Play Wednesday vs. Cal Lutheran

NEWBERG, Ore. - Making their fourth consecutive appearance and eighth in the last 10 years in the NCAA Division III Baseball National Championship Tournament, the George Fox University Bruins will meet the California Lutheran University Kingsmen Wednesday, May 13, at 7:00 p.m. in the first round of the West Regional at Linfield College’s Roy Helser Field/Jim Wright Stadium in McMinnville, Ore.

The Bruins (33-9) are the #4 seed in the regional while the Kingsmen (31-9) are the #3 seed.  Other first round games will pit the #1 seed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens (35-5) vs. the #6 seed Hendrix College Warriors (22-21) at 12:00 noon, and the #2 seed University of Texas-Tyler Patriots (38-10) vs. the #5 seed Chapman University Panthers (26-14) at 3:30 p.m.  The regional champion will advance to the eight-team NCAA Division III World Series, which is set for Friday-Tuesday, May 22-26, at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisc.

Ticket information for the West Regional will be forthcoming soon from Linfield.  George Fox campus radio station KFOX will webcast all Bruin games in the tournament; the internet address for the webcasts is http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/.

George Fox earned its spot in the post-season by sharing the Northwest Conference co-championship with Pacific Lutheran University, then defeating the Lutes 24-6 in a one-game playoff for the automatic berth.  PLU, which finished 31-9, did not receive one of the 13 at-large bids that were given.  The Bruins have an overall record of 14-13 in their seven previous NCAA playoff appearances, winning the West Regional and the NCAA World Series in 2004 with a 9-1 post-season record.

The Bruins, who are ranked 16th in the D3baseball.com national poll and 22nd in the ABCA poll, enter the tournament with the most regular season wins in team history, breaking the previous record of 32 wins by the 1999 and 2005 teams.  The national championship team was 31-9 before post-season play. 

Offense has been the strength of this year’s Bruins, as their team batting average of .375 ranks 2nd nationally.  The Bruins are also 16th in runs (417), 11th in hits (540), 14th in doubles (107), 23rd in home runs (45), and lead the nation sacrifice flies (37).  Defensively, George Fox is 8th in fielding average (.968) and 4th in double plays (46).  On the mound, the Bruins rank 50th in earned run average (4.52).

Senior left fielder Matt Wyckoff (.453-10-66) and junior second baseman Bo Thunell (.431-9-53) lead the potent Bruin batting order.  Sophomore right fielder Dan Winterstein (.419-3-38) and junior first baseman Seth Anderson (.409-3-33) are also over .400.  Senior center fielder Kyle Kuenzi (.363-2-24) leads the team with 22 stolen bases and set a new George Fox record for runs in a season with 66.  Senior third baseman Pat Bailey (.363-9-36) is the Bruins’ single-season record holder for doubles when he had 22 in 2007.  Sophomore shortstop Taylor Hunter (.358-1-22) led the Northwest Conference in assists (133).  Junior Brent Trask (.292-1-13) and sophomore Eric Gantenbein (.316-1-13) split catching duties, while senior Todd Siler (.344-2-23) and junior Jason Brown (.310-2-14) share the designated hitter slot.

The Bruins’ usual starting rotation features four right-handers in senior Nick Bratney (5-3, 4.01), senior Shane Dalgleish (7-1, 6.57), junior Mark Putney (4-0, 3.83), and freshman Jeremy Cheney (1-0, 3.16).  Senior Kyle Johnson (0-0, 3.57) and junior Travis Schroeder (5-2, 5.91), both righties, provide good middle relief, while junior right-hander Chad Jones (7-1, 1.96, 6 saves) has proven to be a formidable closer, tying the Bruins’ season record for saves.

Marty Hunter is in his second year as the Bruins’ head coach after five years as an assistant and has led the team to post-season play in both seasons.  His overall record stands at 61-23 (.726). 

Cal Lutheran made it to the tournament with one of the at-large bids after finishing second to Pomona-Pitzer in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Texas-Tyler, making its first NCAA appearance, was the co-champion of the American Southwest Conference’s East Division before winning the ASC Tournament.  Chapman, which has won four straight West Regionals and the national championship in 2003, received one of six independent bids.  Hendrix pulled an upset in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, knocking off host Millsaps College, and is making its first tournament appearance.