Box Score Game 1

Box Score Game 2

NEWBERG, Ore. – Finishing off their first Northwest Conference baseball series of the season in resounding fashion, the George Fox University Bruins hammered out 29 hits to back two good pitching performances for a 12-2, 14-3 sweep of the Pacific University Boxers Sunday afternoon here at Chuck Bafaro Stadium.

The twin wins enabled the Bruins to take the entire four-game series, giving them five wins in a row and boosting their season record to 7-3.  The Boxers dropped to 2-7 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

The Bruins pounded out 14 hits in the first game in support of right-hander Nick Bratney (1-1), who scattered four hits over six innings while striking out three and walking three.  The only run he allowed came in the 4th when Jeraemy Probert doubled to right-center to plate Korey Yost.

The Bruins opened the scoring with one run in the 1st on a ground out by Bo Thunell, and then added three in the 3rd on a single by Thunell and a two-RBI double to left by Todd Siler.  The Bruins put the game away with a six-run 5th that included four hits and some Boxer miscues on a sloppy field.  Dan Winterstein scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch and Brent Trask followed with a double that scored Seth Anderson.  Kyle Kuenzi added one with a single to center, but the ball was misplayed by Keith Anderson, allowing Trask to score and Kuenzi to motor to third.  Matt Wyckoff scored Kuenzi on a sacrifice fly, and Winterstein later singled in Thunell from third.

George Fox added two more in the top of the 7th on RBI singles by Jason Brown and Michael Woo.  The Boxers scored one in the 7th off of Kyle Johnson when a fielder's choice scored Derek Nelson.

Jason Reed (0-2) took the loss for the Boxers, allowing eight runs, five earned, on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 4.1 innings.  Six Pacific batters finished with one hit each.  Kuenzi, Thunell, Pat Bailey, Winterstein and Siler had two hits apiece.

Thunell was the batting star in the Bruins 15-hit attack in the second game, tying the George Fox record for doubles in a game with three and sacrifice flies in a game with two while going 3-3 and knocking in six runs.  Kuenzi went 3-4 with a double, a triple, and four runs scored, and Taylor Hunter was 3-3 with a double and four runs scored.

The Bruins once again took advantage of the bad field conditions to score five runs in the first two innings.  Kuenzi opened the game with a triple to center that flew past a slipping Kevin Schwartz and scored on Thunell's sacrifice fly to left.  In the 2nd, Eric Gantenbein doubled down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch.  Thunell then made it 4-0 when his double down the mud-saturated right field line scored Hunter and Kuenzi.

George Fox broke it open in the 3rd with five more runs.  Gantenbein singled to score Woo, and Hunter followed with a single that plated Todd Siler.  Gantenbein scored on a ground out before a Wyckoff single scored Hunter, and Thunell's second double drove in Wyckoff from second.

Pacific finally got on the board in the 4th when Probert scored on an error on a fielder's choice by Frankie Guros.  The Bruins responded with two in the 5th as Taylor scored on a wild pitch and Kuenzi crossed on Thunell's second sacrifice fly.  Pacific got both runs back in the home half of the frame on a sacrifice fly that scored Joey Pulito and a wild pitch that scored Schwartz.  The Bruins closed out the scoring with three in the 7th on an RBI single by Wyckoff, Thunell's third double, and a sacrifice fly by Cody Curtin.

Travis Schroeder (1-1) earned the victory, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with two walks and a strikeout in five innings of work.  Adam Weber and Jeremy Cheney finished up the last two scoreless frames.  Dan Wolfe (0-2) took the loss for Pacific, allowing 11 runs on 12 hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings. 

In addition to the three-hit games by Thunell, Kuenzi, and Hunter, Wyckoff and Gantenbein had two hits each.  Schwartz and Probert led Pacific with two hits apiece.

George Fox hosts Lewis & Clark College in a four-game conference set next weekend, with doubleheaders starting at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, then at 12:00 noon  Sunday due to the daylight savings time change.  Pacific hosts Corban College in a non-conference game Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.