Box Score
HILO, Hawai'i – Dan Winterstein singled in Bo
Thunell to break a 6-6 tie in the top of the 8th inning and Chad
Jones pitched two innings of shutout relief for the save as the
George Fox University Bruins got their 2009 baseball season off to
a good start with a 7-6 win over the University of
Hawai'i-Hilo Vulcans Thursday evening here at Francis Wong
Stadium.
The Bruins got on the board in the top of the 1st as Kyle Kuenzi
scored an unearned run on an error at short, but the NCAA Division
II Vulcans tied it in the home half as Peter Rodgers singled in
Keoni Manago. The Vulcans scored two more in the
2nd off Bruin starter Nick Bratney on a sacrifice fly by Ronel
Trias and an RBI single by Manago.
Winterstein doubled in Thunell and Todd Siler singled home Pat
Bailey to tie it 3-3 in the 3rd, then the Bruins struck for three
more in the 5th. Thunell singled in Matt
Wyckoff, who had doubled, with the first run of the inning, and
Todd Siler plated Thunell and Bailey with a single to right.
Hilo got one back in the last of the 5th on a sacrifice fly by
Matt Haasenritter, and tied it in the 7th on a two-run single by
T.J. Pilla. Cody Curtin replaced Mitchell Dame
on the mound at that point and walked Shane Kessel to put two
runners on, but got out of the jam by inducing a fly to center by
Trias.
Curtin (1-0) picked up the win when the Bruins scored in the
8th. Thunell singled with one out off Jeff Jones
(0-1), and Bailey singled him to second off reliever Kurtis
Sherer. Winterstein then singled to center to
score Thunell.
After Curtin walked Thomas Brown to lead off the last of the 8th,
Jones came on to nail down the victory, allowing a single to Jeff
Hanna in the 9th but catching pinch-hitter Cody Barrett looking to
end the game.
The Bruins banged out 12 hits off five Vulcan hurlers in their
opener, all the damage being done by the 2-5
hitters. Thunell was 3-4 with three runs scored
and an RBI, while Siler was 3-5 with three RBIs.
Wyckoff, Bailey, and Winterstein collected two hits apiece.
The Vulcans garnered 10 hits off five George Fox pitchers, Hanna
doing the most damage with a 4-5 game, two doubles and two runs
scored. Manago was 2-3 with two runs scored and
an RBI.
George Fox (1-0) and Hawai'i-Hilo (0-2) will play a
doubleheader Friday at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time (3:00 p.m. in
Hawai'i), then finish the series with a single game Saturday
at 2:00 p.m. Pacific (12:00 noon in
Hawai'i).
