Hunter Gets 100th Win; Ranta NWC Pitcher of the Week; Bruins Climb to 19th in Poll

NEWBERG, Ore.  – Almost overlooked in the excitement of Taylor Hunter’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning that gave the George Fox University Bruins a thrilling 5-4 win over the Willamette University Bearcats on March 20 was the fact that it was 100th college coaching win for his father, Marty Hunter.

Hunter became 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 University, and Pat Bailey (353-158, 1996-2007), an assistant at Oregon State.  The Bruins completed a sweep of the three-game Willamette series with an 11-10 win on Monday, making Hunter’s record to date in his fourth season 101-41 (.711).   He reached 100 wins faster than any other Bruin baseball coach, in his 141st game; Bailey got his 100th in his fourth season and 149th game. 

NWC HONORS: George Fox ace right-hander Brian Ranta was named the Northwest Conference Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week for March 14-20, the third time he has received the award this season, and right fielder Dan Winterstein received honorable mention for NWC Offensive/Fielding Student-Athlete of the Week.

Ranta, a junior from Clackamas, Ore., posted his fourth complete game of the season and second shutout of his career when he blanked the Willamette Bearcats 2-0 on March 19 in the first game of an important conference series.  He allowed only three hits through eight innings and settled for a five-hitter, striking out eight and walking one.  Ranta improved to 5-1 on the season and lowered his earned run average to 1.91 while improving his strikeouts-to-walks ratio to 41-to-4 in 47.0 innings.

Winterstein, a senior from Eugene, Ore., batted .385 (5-13) in three games, with a double, four stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI. He was 2-4 with a double and a run in a 4-1 loss at Pacific on March 14, 1-4 with two steals and a run in a 2-0 win over Willamette on March 19, and 2-5 with a sacrifice fly and two steals in the Bruins’ 5-4 11-inning win over Willamette on March 20.  Winterstein is batting .325 on the season, leads the conference with 26 runs scored, and is among the leaders with 10 steals.

RANKINGS: With a sweep of the three-game Willamette series, the Bruins find themselves 14-5 on the season and moved up to 19th in this week’s NCAA Division III D3baseball.com national poll, the fourth of the season.  George Fox received 121 points to climb from 22nd the previous week.  Other West Region teams in the top 25 include #3 Texas- Tyler (21-0), #9 Linfield (14-4), #10 Trinity TX (21-5), #11 Chapman (16-5), and #14 Pomona-Pitzer (17-6).  For the complete poll, visit the D3baseball.com website at http://www.d3baseball.com/top25/2011/Week4.

NEXT: Now in fourth place in the Northwest Conference standings (14-5 overall, 5-4 NWC), the Bruins will try to gain some ground on the teams ahead of them (Linfield, Puget Sound, and Pacific) with a three-game series against the improving Whitman Missionaries (3-17, NWC 2-7) at Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla, Wash., March 26-27.  A doubleheader is set for Saturday at 12:00 noon, with a single game on Sunday at 12:00 noon. 

Probable starting pitchers for the Bruins in the Whitman series are RHP Brian Ranta (5-1, 1.91, 41 K’s, 47.0 ip), RHP Clay Gartner (1-2, 2.63, 17 K’s, 27.1 ip), and RHP Brian Davis (2-0, 5.47, 24 K’s, 24.1 ip).  Second baseman Taylor Hunter (.393-1-15), who also has eight doubles, and third baseman Sam Stahl (.364-1-22), who hit a go-ahead grand slam in the Bruins’ 11-10 win over Willamette on March 21, lead the Bruins at the plate.  Lead-off man Dan Winterstein (.325-1-8) paces the conference with 26 runs scored and is 10-11 in stolen bases.