Box Score

SALEM, Ore. – Matt Wyckoff slugged three home runs and drove in eight runs while going 5-for-5, and the George Fox University Bruins scored eight runs in the last two innings to defeat the Willamette University Bearcats 14-10 in a Northwest Conference baseball game Friday afternoon here at John Lewis Field.

The game was the first of a four-game series that was originally scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, but with anticipated bad weather over the weekend, the coaches decided to try to get a jump on the series by playing the first game on Friday.

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the 1st as Wyckoff singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Dan Winterstein.  The Bearcats went ahead in the home half of the inning on RBI singles by Kyle Stalker and Mitchell Rowan, but Wyckoff slugged a solo homer in the 3rd to tie it. 

Willamette exploded for four in the bottom of the 3rd against Bruin starter Nick Bratney as Dan Maslanik drove in one with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and David Tufo followed with a three-run home run.  The Bruins responded with a four-spot of their own in the top of the 4th as Wyckoff blasted a grand slam off Bearcat hurler Jack McGee, though all the runs were unearned due to a two-out error that prolonged the innings.

The Bearcats regained the lead in the last of the 4th when Michael Dearborn doubled and Stalker singled him home.  They made it 8-6 in the 7th with an unearned run, as Rowan reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Tufo's two-out hit.

Down to their final six outs, the Bruins struck for five in the 8th and three in the 9th, all off reliever David Stott (0-1).  With one down in the 8th, Kyle Kuenzi doubled and Wyckoff slammed his third home run of the game and fifth of the season to tie it 8-8.  Pat Bailey doubled and Winterstein singled him home with the tie-breaking run, the Seth Anderson hammered his first round-tripper of the year to make it 11-8.

The Bearcats got one back in the home half on a solo shot by T.C. Lee, but the Bruins salted it away in the 9th.  After Taylor Hunter was hit by a pitch and Kuenzi singled, Wyckoff stepped in with a chance to tie a Bruin and NCAA Division III national record with four home runs in a game, but instead settled for his fifth hit, an RBI single.  Cody Curtin and Bailey added run-scoring hits before the Bearcats got one last run in the 9th on a solo shot by Michael Rierson.

Relief pitcher Chad Jones (2-0), who threw the 4th through 8th innings for the Bruins, picked up the win, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out seven with no walks.

In addition to Wyckoff's huge game, Kuenzi had three hits and scored three runs, while Bailey and Anderson added two hits to the Bruins' 17-hit attack.  Tufo was 3-for-5 and drove in four, with Dearborn, Stalker, Rowan and Rierson collecting two hits apiece out of the home team's 14 safeties.

George Fox improved to 12-3 on the season and 9-0 in the NWC. Willamette fell to 5-6 overall and is 3-2 in the league.  The teams will continue the series on Saturday with a doubleheader. The first game, scheduled for nine innings, will start at 12:00 noon, followed by a seven-inning second game.  The series will conclude with a single seven-inning game on Sunday at noon.