Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2

NEWBERG, Ore. - Todd Siler hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run in the first game and southpaw Brady Rhodes threw seven shutout innings in the second as the George Fox University Bruins opened Northwest Conference baseball play with a 9-8, 7-1 sweep of the Pacific University Boxers Saturday afternoon here at Morse Field.

Siler's shot in the opener, believed by veteran observers to be the first inside-the-parker in Bruin history, negated a huge game by the Boxers' Matt Hendryx, who hit not one, but two game-tying home runs, one in the 8th and one in the 9th.

The Bruins cruised through the first five innings, mounting a 5-0 lead against Pacific starter Sean Dickey. Pat Bailey started the scoring with a one-out solo shot in the 1st, his second of the year, followed immediately by a Matt Wyckoff double and an RBI single by Ryan Fobert. In the 5th, Wyckoff singled in Josh Burch and Fobert lofted his first home run of the season to right.

Bruin righthander Nick Bratney allowed only three hits and fanned five through the first five innings, but surrendered two runs in the 6th as Andrew Curtin doubled, Jeff Johnston singled for a run and stole second, and Zach Gantenbein doubled in Johnston. The Boxers knocked out Bratney in the 7th on a walk to Nick McNeely and back-to-back singles by Korey Yost and Brandon Kon.

Pacific took the lead in the 8th against Bruin southpaw Nick Hedgecock. Gantebein drew a lead-off walk and Hendryx slammed his first home run of the game and the season to right-center for a 5-5 tie. Kyle Barksdale singled, was sacrificed to second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to left by Kon.

The Bruins rebounded to take the lead in the home half of the 8th against reliever Tyler Fransen, aided by two Pacific errors. Cody Spencer singled and was sacrificed to second, and Dan Winterstein was safe at first when his slow roller to third was thrown wide of the bag at first by third baseman Gantenbein. After Winterstein stole second, Bailey's sacrifice fly scored Spencer with the tying run and sent Winterstein to third. Wyckoff's grounder to second was thrown away by Curtin as Winterstein scored the go-ahead run, and Fobert singled in Wyckoff, who had advanced to second on the wild throw.

With one out in the top of the 9th, Johnston was safe on Spencer's error at second, and with two outs and two strikes on him, Hendryx took reliever Brian Davis, trying for his second save, deep to left for his second tying shot of the game, knotting it 8-8.

Barksdale moved from designated hitter to pitcher to start the last of the 9th, and the first batter he faced was Siler, who drilled a shot deep toward left-center. Johnston made a valiant leaping effort for the ball at the fence, which hit the top and bounced back into play toward right. Before any of the Boxers could retrieve the ball and get it back into the infield, Siler had circled the bases with the game-winner.

Barksdale fell to 0-1 while Davis went to 2-0. Fobert was 4-5 and drove in four runs for the Bruins, with Wyckoff and Kyle Kuenzi collecting two hits apiece. Hendryx, Kon, and Joey Pulito had two hits each for the Boxers.

The second game was not nearly as dramatic, thanks to a sterling effort by Rhodes (1-0). The senior and only remaining member of the Bruins' 2004 NCAA Division III national championship team was at his best, scattering four hits over eight innings of work while striking out four and walking only one. The Boxers touched him for a run in the 8th when Max Price scored on Curtin's bases-loaded force out, but by then the Bruins had the game well in hand.

The Bruins got going in the 2nd as Fobert led off the inning with his second home run of the day, a tremondous blast to right that landed in the middle of the infield on the George Fox softball diamond. Siler was hit by a pitch and Winterstein walked, and after Boxer starter Blaine Knuth wild-pitched them along, both scored when first baseman Kaeo Lau Hee mishandled a throw to first on Joey Bianco's grounder to third.

George Fox put the game away with four in the 5th, all off Knuth. Bailey doubled to lead off the frame, Wyckoff bunted for a hit, and Fobert walked to load the bases. Kuenzi doubled in two runs, and Siler followed with a two-run single.

Wyckoff, Fobert, Kuenzi, and Spencer had two hits each for the Bruins. Knuth (0-2) worked four innings, surrendering seven hits and seven runs, five earned, with a strikeout and two walks.

George Fox is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference, while Pacific is 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the league. The series concludes with a doubleheader Sunday at 11:00 a.m., both games scheduled to go seven innings.