GEORGE FOX 7-8, OCCIDENTAL 3-4: Bruins Open Softball Season with Sweep of Tigers

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Banging out 20 hits on the day and playing flawlessly in the field, the George Fox University Bruins got their 2012 softball season off on a good note by sweeping  the Occidental College Tigers 7-3 and 8-4, the second game in only five innings, in a non-conference doubleheader Thursday afternoon here at Bell Field.

Game 1 - George Fox 7, at Occidental 3

Erin Hento (1-0) pitched a complete game in the season opener for both teams and the Bruins used a five-run rally in the 3rd to build a comfortable lead en route to the first-game win.  Hento scattered six hits, struck out seven, walked none, and had only one rough inning when the Tigers scored all their runs in the bottom of the 3rd.

George Fox took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st.  Jenny Milton led off the game with a walk, stole second, and stayed there as Kris Trindle reached on a single to short.  Bethany Chriss singled to load the bases, and McKenzie Beeson singled to left to plate Milton.

The Bruins exploded in the 3rd.  Trindle and Felicia Chavez each reached on singles and swiped second, and Chriss reached on an error at second that scored Trindle.  After Chriss stole second, Mckynna Towery delivered a two-run single, and Rachel Fielder hammered a two-run home run to center.  

Occidental got on the board in the home half of the 3rd with a two-run double by Meghan Luera and an RBI double by Ashley Noone to trim the Bruins’ lead to 6-3,but Hento escaped further damage by striking out Patricia Phillimeano and allowing only two more hits over the final four innings.

George Fox added an insurance run in the 4th when Chavez doubled, Beeson singled her to third, and the two worked a double steal.

Brittany Vacura (0-1) went the distance for Occidental, allowing 11 Bruin hits while fanning six and walking two.  Trindle, Chavez, Beeson and Towery had two hits each for the Bruins, while Noone went 3-3 for the Tigers.

Game 2 - George Fox 8, at Occidental 4

In the nightcap, the Bruins used a pair of three-run innings to complete the sweep in a game shortened to five innings by darkness.

George Fox got single runs in the first two innings.  Chriss doubled home Trindle, who had walked and stolen second, in the 1st, and Kerrianne Davidson scored in the 2nd on a walk, a stolen base, a single by Fielder, and a throwing error on Milton’s grounder.   

In the 3rd, Chriss walked and stole second, as did Beeson, before Chriss scored on a wild pitch.  After Towery walked and stole second, Nicole Renteria’s grounder to first scored Beeson, and Towery scored on a Davidson bunt.

The Bruins added three more in the 4th.  Milton singled and moved to third on a ground out and a Chavez single.  Chavez stole second, and Milton scored when the second baseman mishandled the throw.  Chriss singled to score Chavez, stole second, and scored on Beeson’s double.

Occidental got one run in the 3rd on a single by Jacqueline Shimamoto, a walk to Luera, and a single by Jerika Barron.  The Tigers added three more in the 5th on an RBI single by Noone and run-scoring doubles by Barron and Nicole Hannasch before it got too dark to play further.

Taylor Whitmore went the first 2.2 innings for the Bruins and allowed one run before Allyssa DenDekker (1-0) relieved and got the win with 1.1 innings of one-hit scoreless ball.  Fielder threw the final inning when Occidental scored three times.  Amber Garland (0-1) took the loss for the Tigers, allowing nine hit in five innings while striking out three and walking three.

Chriss and Beeson had two hits each for the Bruins, Chriss scoring twice and driving in two.  Barron went 3-3 for a pair if RBIs and Hannasch had two hits for the Tigers.

NEXT: George Fox (2-0) continues its southern California swing at Chapman University in Orange Friday with a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m. ... Occidental (0-2) goes to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Saturday for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader starting at 12:00 noon.