Box Score Game 1

Box Score Game 2 

FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Benefitting from a clutch 9th-inning home runby Bo Thunell in the opener and a solid starting pitching performance by Shane Dalgleish in the nightcap, the George Fox University Bruins opened Northwest Conference play with a 6-5, 10-6 sweep of the Pacific University Boxers in a baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon here at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.

The games marked Pacific's 2009 home opener and were pushed back two hours by wet field conditions.

In the lidlifter, the Bruins opened the game by getting to Pacific starter Tyler Fransen for two runs in the 1st. Thunell opened the scoring with a double that plated Kyle Kuenzi, and Dan Winterstein followed two batters later with a single to right that drove in Thunell.  Pat Bailey made it 3-0 with a solo home run to left in the 3rd, his third of the season.

Pacific took the lead by parlaying two George Fox errors into five runs in the 5th.  Keith Suits' infield single to first scored Joey Pulito, and the attempt to throw Suits out at first flew over the first base bag, allowing Suits and Kyle Barksdale to move up 90 feet.  Pulito followed with a double that scored the pair to tie the game.

George Fox starter Brian Davis then walked the bases loaded before forcing Kaeo Lau Hee into a short comebacker to the mound.  Davis overthrew first base, however, allowing Pulito and Kevin Schwartz to score for a 5-3 Pacific lead. 

That score held until the top of the 9th.  After seeing the Bruins' inning extended by a one-out Pacific throwing error, Thunell drilled an two-out, 0-2 pitch down the left field line to put the Bruins back in front, and reliever Chad Jones retired the side in order in the home half of the 9th to preserve the win.

Jones (1-0) earned his first win of the season by throwing four perfect innings with two strikeouts.  Barksdale (0-1) took the loss when he allowed Thunell's dramatic home run

Thunell led the Bruins offensively, going 2-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored.  Pulito paced Pacific by going 2-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.

In the finale, George Fox starter Dalgleish (3-0) gave Pacific little to work with, allowing the Boxers just four hits in seven innings of work while striking out three.  The Bruins scored four in the 4th on a sacrifice fly by Dan Winterstein, an RBI single by Seth Anderson, and a two-run triple by Todd Siler.  Bailey added one more in the 4th with a single that scored Kuenzi before the Boxers finally tallied in the home half when Lau Hee's double plated Schwartz.

The Bruins added one in the 6th when Bailey's double scored Thunell, and Kuenzi scored two in the 7th with a double to right that scored Eric Gantenbein and Taylor Hunter.

Dalgleish gave way to Mark Putney in the 8th, and the move benefitted the Boxers as the first seven batters reached base in a five-run frame.  After loading the bases with two singles and an error, Corby Makin singled to score Korey Yost, Jereamy Probert followed with three-run single that scored Makin, Andy Tolbert, and Keith Anderson.  Lau Hee closed the frame with a single that plated Probert.

The Bruins added some insurance in the top of the 9th, scoring one on a suicide squeeze by Perry Knudson and another on a single by Cody Curtin, before Putney settled down to allow just a harmless single in the home half, sealing the win.

Blaine Knuth (1-1) took his first loss of the season, allowing seven runs, six earned, on 14 hits with two walks and a strikeout in 6.0 innings.  Kuenzi, Bailey, and Siler all had three hits for the Bruins, while Anderson went 3-4 to lead the Boxers.

George Fox (5-3, NWC 2-0) and Pacific (3-4, NWC 0-2) will take to the field again Sunday, concluding their four-game series with a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m.  Both games will be Webcast live on the Boxer Sports Network.