Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2

PORTLAND, Ore. - Breaking a tie for first place in the Northwest Conference with Willamette University, which was playing outside the conference, the George Fox University Bruins swept a doubleheader from the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers 7-2 and 12-8 Saturday afternoon here at the Huston Sports Complex.

George Fox improved to 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the NWC with the twin wins. Willamette, which dropped a pair to California State University-East Bay, is 3-1 and a game back of the Bruins, as are Linfield College and the University of Puget Sound, both 4-2 in league play.

The Bruins needed a five-run rally in the 8th inning of the opener to overcome the Pios, who held a 2-1 lead throughout most of the game. Sam Holman singled in Jordan Shibata with an unearned run in the bottom of the 1st to give the Pios a 1-0 lead, while the Bruins got an unearned run of their own to tie it in the 3rd as Kyle Kuenzi singled in Matt Wyckoff. A Roland Greene single, a balk, and an RBI single by Jordan Wlodarczyk in the home 3rd put the Pios back in front 2-1, a lead they nursed until the 8th.

Kuenzi started the Bruins' winning rally against L&C starter Jordan Smiley (0-2) with a one-out double, and Michael Woo and Pat Bailey walked to load the bases. Kyle Seymour's sacrifice fly to left tied it, and Cody Spencer delivered a two-run double to left to give the Bruins their first lead of the game. Tucker Laurence relieved Smiley and surrendered an RBI triple to Josh Burch and an infield single to Dan Winterstein that scored Burch. Singles by Ryan Fobert, Joey Bianco, and Perry Knudson in the 9th plated the Bruins' final run.

Kuenzi had three hits while Winterstein, Wyckoff, Fobert and Spencer added two each to the Bruins' 14-hit attack. Shibata and T.J. Witkowski had two hits apiece for the Pios, who had nine hits in the game.

Nick Bratney worked the first six innings for the Bruins, spacing eight hits while allowing two runs, one earned, with three strikeouts and four walks. Mark Putney (1-1) got the win with three innings of shutout relief, allowing only one hit while fanning two and walking one. Smiley surrendered nine hits in 7.2 innings with six K's and three walks in taking the setback.

Early offense and late relief were the story of game two. The Pioneers built up a 5-2 lead after four innings against GFU starter Brady Rhodes, collecting eight hits off the southpaw. Shibata got the home team going with a leadoff home run in the 1st, his fourth of the year, and after Jason Brown tied it with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd that scored Kuenzi, the Pios regained the lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a run-scoring ground out by Ryan Kostecka.

Spencer singled and Wyckoff doubled him home in the top of the 3rd for a 2-2 tie, but the Pios scored two in their half on RBI singles by A.J. Brown and Greene, and made it 5-2 in the 4th as Kostecka scored on Laurence's grounder. The Bruins exploded for four in the 5th to take a 6-5 lead as Fobert singled in a run, Todd Siler tied it with a two-run double, and Seymour singled in Siler with the go-ahead run.

Not to be outdone, the Pios scored two unearned runs in the home half on an RBI single by Green and a ground out by Kostecka, but the Bruins took the lead for good with a six-run outburst in the 6th. After three walks loaded the bases, Wyckoff doubled in two, Fobert and Kuenzi had RBI singles, another run scored on a wild pitch, and Brown capped the inning with a run-scoring triple.

Lewis & Clark got one back in the bottom of the 6th before reliever Kyle Johnson (1-0) shut out the Pios over the last three innings for the win. David La Douceur (0-2), who gave up the Bruins' first three runs in the 6th, took the loss.

The first six hitters in the Bruins' lineup - Winterstein, Spencer, Wyckoff, Fobert, Kuenzi and Siler - each had two hits as the Bruins again collected 14 safeties. Greene had three hits while Shibata, Laurence, Witkowski and Brown had two each for the Pios, who had 12 hits in all.

The teams conclude their series with two seven-inning games Sunday at 12:00 noon.