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WHAT’S BRUIN - Baseball News & Notes 3/18
Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases
Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio
Overall Record: 11-5 (Home 4-1, Road 0-4 Neutral 7-0)
NWC Record: 2-4, 7th T (Home 2-1, Road 0-3)
* HIGHLIGHTS:
* Upcoming Games: Bruins Swap WU Games to 1 Saturday, 2 Sunday
* KFOX Radio to Webcast All Three Games of Willamette Series
* Aldrich Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Hitting Honors
* Bruins Ranked 22nd in D3baseball.com National Rankings
* Hunter Two Away from 100 College Coaching Victories
* NWC Team Stats: Bruins Lead League in Batting, Wins, Fielding
* NWC Batting Stats: Hunter Leads League in Hits, Total Bases
* NWC Pitching Stats: Ranta Leads League in Wins, Innings, Starts
* NWC Fielding Stats: Two Bruins Among Leaders in Fielding Avg.
* Upcoming Games: Bruins Swap WU Games to 1 Saturday, 2 Sunday
- Sat., Mar. 19, 2:00 pm - vs. Willamette University, Newberg, Ore.
- Sun., Mar. 20, 12:00 pm - vs. Willamette University (2), Newberg, Ore.
NEWBERG, Ore. - After enduring only their third sweep by a Northwest Conference opponent since joining the league 16 years ago, the George Fox Bruins find themselves needing to reverse directions quickly if they hope to get back in the conference baseball race as they host the Willamette Bearcats for a three-game set this weekend.
Because of wet conditions at the Bruins’ Morse Field, the teams’ coaches have agreed to switch the series to a single game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday at 12:00 noon to give the field (hopefully) time to dry.
The Bruins’ 4-3, 4-1, and 4-1 losses at Pacific dropped them to 11-5 overall and 2-4 in the NWC, tied for seventh and three games behind leaders Linfield and Puget Sound. The Bruins left 29 runners on base during the series, including 17 in scoring position. To get back on track, they will need to assert themselves against a team that leads the league in pitching (2.13 staff ERA) and home runs (9), but is coming off its own string of three straight losses to Linfield.
Projected starting pitchers for the Bruins this weekend include Brian Ranta (4-1, 2.37, 33 K’s, 38.0 ip), RHP Clay Gartner (1-2, 2.82, 13 K’s, 22.1 ip), and RHP Brian Davis (2-0, 3.57, 23 K’s, 22.2 ip). The Bearcats, who are 8-6 overall and in fourth place in the NWC at 3-3, will probably counter with RHP Chris Torgerson (3-0, 0.89, 10 K’s, 20.1 ip), RHP Brandon Simon (2-1, 1.23, 13 K’s, 22.0 ip), and RHP Blake Paisley (2-1, 3.60, 8 K’s, 20.0 ip).
In last year’s series in Salem, the Bruins dropped the opener to the Bearcats 7-2, but bounced back to take the final two games 7-6 and 14-0.
Multimedia: George Fox campus radio station KFOX will be webcasting all three games from Morse Field, and live stats will also be provided. Links to the KFOX webcast and the live stats are available above.
BRUIN BITS:
* Aldrich Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Hitting Honors
Left fielder Derek Aldrich has received honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Baseball Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week for March 7-13 for his contributions to the Bruin offense in a conference doubleheader at Pacific on Mar. 12, the Bruins’ only two games of the week.
Aldrich, a senior from North bend, Wash., batted .571 (4-for-7) with a double, a stolen base, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI. In the first game, a 4-3 loss, he went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the 8th that cut the Boxers’ lead to 4-2. In the second game, a 4-1 setback, he went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. He is the seventh different Bruin to receive NWC of some kind this season.
In conference statistics, Aldrich ranks is 4th in hits (20, T), stolen bases (5, T), 6th in batting avg. (.370), total bases (27, T), 7th in slugging pct. (.500, T), 9th in home runs (1, T), and 10th in on base pct. (.444).
* 2011 Honors
Josh Rapacz ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men’s Athlete of the Week - Feb. 7-13
- Northwest Conference Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 7-13
Andrew Snyder ---
- Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 7-13 (HM)
Taylor Hunter ---
- Northwest Conference Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 14-20
Brian Ranta ---
- Bruin Athletic Association Men’s Athlete of the Week - Feb. 14-20; Feb. 28-Mar. 6
- Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 14-20; Feb. 21-27; Feb. 28-Mar. 6 (HM)
Dan Winterstein ---
- Northwest Conference Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 21-27 (HM)
Sam Stahl ---
- Northwest Conference Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week - Feb. 28-Mar. 6 (HM)
Derek Aldrich ---
- Northwest Conference Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week - Mar. 7-13 (HM)
* Bruins Ranked 22nd in D3baseball.com National Rankings
Despite dropping a pair of games at Pacific to fall to 11-4 at the time of the voting, the George Fox Bruins remained No. 22 in the D3baeball.com poll of Mar. 14. after taking two of three from Pacific Lutheran this past weekend. The Bruins received 93 points in the voting, down by 60 from the week before, by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors, and media members from across the country ... Other West Region teams in the top 25 include No. 5 Texas-Tyler (18-0), No. 10 Linfield (11-4), No. 12 Trinity TX (18-3), No. 13 Chapman (12-4), and No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer (14-6).
D3baseball.com/NCBWA National Poll: http://www.d3baseball.com/landing/index
* Hunter Two Away from 100 College Coaching Victories
With two more victories, Marty Hunter can become the third coach in George Fox baseball history to reach the 100-win plateau, joining Pat Casey (171-113-1, 1988-94), now the head coach at Oregon State, and Pat Bailey (353-158, 1996-2007), an assistant at Oregon State. Hunter’s record to date in his fourth season stands at 98-41. He could reach 100 wins faster than any other Bruin baseball coach; Bailey got his 100th in his fourth season and 149th game.
* NWC Team Stats (3/14): Bruins Lead League in Batting, Wins, Fielding
- Batting: George Fox is 1st in batting avg. (.303), hits (157), doubles (28, T), sacrifice bunts (19, T), stolen bases (29, T), 2nd in on base pct. (.377), runs (91), total bases (194), total at bats (611), at bats (518), 3rd in slugging pct. (.375), RBIs (74, T), sacrifice flies (8), 4th in walks (46), strikeouts (92), 5th in hit by pitches (20), 7th in home runs (3, T), 8th in triple (0, T) ...
- Pitching: George Fox is 1st in wins (11), saves (5, T), 2nd in innings (132.0), strikeouts (94), fewest walks (34), 3rd in ERA (3.55), opponents’ batting avg. (.256), 4th in pickoffs (3), 5th in wild pitches (10), hit batters (15) ...
- Fielding: George Fox is 1st in fielding avg. (.980), assists (182), fewest errors (12), double plays (12, T), caught stealing (10), 2nd in chances (590), putouts (396), 8th in passed balls (2) …
* NWC Batting Stats (3/14): Hunter Leads League in Hits, Total Bases
- SS Taylor Hunter is 1st in hits (27), total bases (32), 3rd in batting avg. (.422), 4th in at bats (64, T), 6th in total at bats (73), 7th in on base pct. (.465, T), 8th in RBIs (12, T), 3rd in doubles (5, T) ...
- RF Dan Winterstein is 1st in runs (22), 4th in stolen bases (5, T), 5th in total at bats (74), 6th in at bats (63, T), 7th in hits (19, T), 8th in walks (8, T), 9th in home runs (1, T) …
- CF Nate Hickok is 9th in runs (12, T) ...
- C-1B Eric Gantenbein is 4th in hits (20, T), 6th in at bats (63, T), 9th in total at bats (69) ...
- 3B Sam Stahl is 2nd in RBIs (16), sacrifice flies (3), 3rd in hits (21), doubles (5, T), 4th in stolen bases (5, T), 6th in at bats (63, T), 7th in total at bats (71, T) …
- LF Derek Aldrich is 4th in hits (20, T), stolen bases (5, T), 6th in batting avg. (.370), total bases (27, T), 7th in slugging pct. (.500, T), 9th in home runs (1, T), 10th in on base pct. (.444) …
- C Josh Rapacz is 3rd in sacrifices (3, T) …
- 2B Derek Blankenship is 3rd in sacrifices (3, T), 9th in home runs (1, T) …
- DH Todd Nagamine is 3rd in sacrifices (3, T) ...
* NWC Pitching Stats (3/14): Ranta Leads League in Wins, Innings, Starts
- RHP Brian Ranta is 1st in wins (4, T), starts (5, T), 2nd in innings (38.0), strikeouts (33), 10th in ERA (2.37), opponents’ batting avg. (.220) …
- RHP Andrew Snyder is 1st in ERA (0.48), 3rd in opponents’ batting avg. (.177), 6th in appearances (6, T), 8th in wins (2, T) …
- RHP Clay Gartner is 7th in saves (1, T) …
- RHP Brian Davis is 2nd in wild pitches (5, T), 3rd in hit batters (6), 8th in wins (2, T), strikeouts (20, T), 9th in starts (4, T) …
- RHP Kyle Albertson is 7th in saves (1, T), 8th in wins (2, T), appearances (5, T) …
- RHP Jacob Brown is 1st in games finished (6), 2nd in saves (2, T), 5th in appearances (7) …
- RHP Dan Winterstein is 7th in saves (1, T) ...
* NWC Fielding Stats (3/14): Two Bruins Among Leaders in Fielding Avg.
- 1B-C Eric Gantenbein is 1st in fielding avg. (1.000, T), chances (146), putouts (130), caught stealing (7, T) …
- 2B Derek Blankenship is 1st in fielding avg. (1.000, T) …
- C Josh Rapacz is 10th in caught stealing (2, T) …
- SS Taylor Hunter is 5th in assists (42), double plays (9, T) ...
* Head Coach Marty Hunter
Marty Hunter (Linfield ’84) is 98-41 (.705, 43-14 home, 42-20 road, 13-7 neutral) to date in his 4th season as the George Fox head coach … He was the Northwest Conference Co-Coach of the Year in 2009 … He has guided the Bruins to two post-season appearances in his three seasons at GFU … Against Willamette, he is 8-3 (2-2 home, 6-1 road) …
