Box Score

SALEM, Ore. – In a marathon affair that started on Saturday and finally ended on Wednesday, the George Fox University Bruins pounded out 21 hits and out-scored the Willamette University Bearcats 22-7 in a Northwest Conference baseball game here at John Lewis Field.

The game was the second of a four-game series and was originally scheduled as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.  The teams got in three innings before it was suspended by rain in a 3-3 tie, and ongoing weather problems prevented the completion of the game until Wednesday.  The final two games of the series have not yet been rescheduled.

As it was, the game still took 4 hours and 13 minutes of actual competition, as the teams combined for 33 hits and 17 walks, and 25 runners left on base.

On Saturday, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on Eric Gantenbein's first home run of the season, and added another in the 3rd on Seth Anderson's sacrifice fly.  The Bearcats tied it in the 3rd on a run-scoring double by Doug Bloom and RBI singles by Ellis Webster and Kyle Stalker before the rains came.

When play resumed on Wednesday, the Bruins immediately broke the tie with two in the 4th on a two-run single by Matt Wyckoff.  The Bruins continued to add on as the Bearcats used nine pitchers, scoring six in the 5th, five in the 6th, five in the 8th, and another in the 9th.  Pat Bailey had a two-run double and Jason Brown a two-run single in the 6th, Kyle Kuenzi hit a two-run double in the 8th, and Michael Woo slugged his first home run of the season in the 9th.

The Bearcats got all the rest of their runs in the bottom of the 5th on a two-run homer by Stalker, and solo shot by Jack McGee, and an RBI single by David Tufo.  It was the 40th home run of Stalker's career, extending his Willamette record.

Leading the Bruin offense were Taylor Hunter, who went 4-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs, and Cody Curtin, Wyckoff, Gantenbein with three hits each.  Kuenzi, Bailey, and Brown had two hits apiece.  Gantenbein and Kuenzi scored four runs each, while Kuenzi, Wyckoff, and Bailey each collected three RBIs.

Stalker paced the Bearcats with three hits and three RBIs, while Tufo and Michael Rierson banged out two hits apiece.

Travis Schroder (3-1), the second of five George Fox hurlers, picked up the win, while the loss went to Devin Grindy (1-2), the third Willamette pitcher.

George Fox (13-3, NWC 10-0), which has won 11 in a row, steps out of the conference this weekend to host California State University-East Bay in a three-game series, with a 12:00 noon doubleheader on Saturday and a single at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.  Willamette (5-7, NWC 3-3) visits Pacific Lutheran University for a four-game conference series, with doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 noon.