Box
Score Game 1
Box
Score Game 2
NEWBERG, Ore.
– Taking turns stealing victories from each other, the George
Fox University Bruins won the first game of a Northwest Conference
baseball doubleheader 4-3 on Matt Wyckoff's walk-off
three-run homer in the last of the 7th before the Pacific Lutheran
University Lutes scored eight times in the last three innings for a
9-7 second-game win Monday afternoon here at Morse Field.
The opening game began as a pitching duel between last
week's Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week, right-hander
Trey Watt of PLU, and 2008 First Team All-Conference righty Mark
Putney, who was making his second start of the year after
recovering from a sore arm. Putney shut out the
Lutes through five innings on only two hits with three strikeouts
and no walks, while Watt struck out four and allowed no hits into
the 4th inning.
Bo Thunell doubled with one out for the Bruins' first hit in
the 4th and Dan Winterstein singled to right with two out to score
him with the first run of the game. The Bruins
had Watt on the ropes again in the 5th, loading the bases with none
out on a single by Brent Trask, a throwing error by Watt on Taylor
Hunter's tapper to the right of the mound, and a bunt single
by Kyle Kuenzi, but came away empty-handed as Wyckoff and Thunell
hit into force outs at the plate and Pat Bailey struck out.
That escape gave the Lutes new life, and they responded with three
runs in the top of the 6th. Ben Shively and Josh
Takayoshi hit singles to end Putney's day, and Wyckoff came
in from left to try to hold things down. After
Corey Moore struck out on a third-strike foul bunt, Jordan Post
walked and Ryan Aratani was hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying
run. Geoff Gabler then doubled inside the bag at
third for two runs.
Watt carried that 3-1 lead into the 7th and final inning, but
walked Hunter and surrendered a sharp single up the middle to
Kuenzi to start the frame. On an 0-1 pitch,
Wyckoff then drilled his sixth home run of the year down the
right-field line and onto the roof of the softball field dugout for
the 4-3 GFU win.
Wyckoff (2-0) earned himself the victory with his game-winning
smash, while Watt (4-2) suffered the sudden setback, allowing eight
hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Kuenzi
had two hits for the Bruins, with Gabler and Shively getting two
hits each for the Lutes.
In the nightcap, the Lutes got a run in the top of the 1st on a
Takayoshi double and an RBI single by Post, but the Bruins tagged
PLU starter Paul DiPietro for two runs each in the 1st and 2nd
innings and three off reliever Nathan Eisenhauer in the 3rd to
build a 7-1 lead. Winterstein had a sacrifice
fly and Cody Curtin an RBI single in the 2nd, Wyckoff and Thunell
hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the 2nd, and Kuenzi hit an RBI
single and Wyckoff a two-run double in the 3rd.
George Fox right-hander Jeremy Cheney, making his first start
after 6.1 relief innings in four appearances, settled down after
the opening inning and shut out the Lutes over the next three
frames before turning it over to the bullpen
with a chance for his first college
win. Instead, the Lutes rallied while southpaw
Bret Handy (1-1) stymied the Bruin bats over three innings,
allowing only one hit and a walk with one strikeout.
The Lutes scored two in the 5th off reliever Kyle Johnson, Post
singling in Shively and Takayoshi scoring on Aratani's force
out grounder at second. The second run was
unearned due to Johnson's low throw to second on a potential
double-play bouncer to the mound by Sam Beatty earlier in the
inning.
Chad Jones (3-1), the Bruins' usually reliable closer who
was leading the league in ERA, got out of trouble with a strikeout
to end the 5th, but was roughed up for three runs in the
6th. A walk to Corey Moore and singles by Sammy
Davis and Shively loaded the bases, Aratani delivered a two-run
double to right, and a Kirk Hansen ground out to second scored
Shively as the Lutes closed within 7-6.
Moore started the Lutes' go-ahead rally in the 7th with a
one-out single to right. Davis then hit a sharp
grounder to the right of Hunter at second, who made a diving stop
but threw the ball into left trying for the force at second,
sending the runners to third and second. Wyckoff again relieved but
hit Matt Akridge to load the bases, and the tying run scored on
Carl Benton's grounder toward the left-side hole on which
Bailey made a fine play at third to throw him
out. Takayoshi followed with his fourth hit of
the game, a line single to right just off the glove of a leaping
Hunter that plated Davis and pinch-runner Matt Wolford.
Ryan Frost, making only his third appearance of the season on the
hill, picked up his first save with a quick 1-2-3 inning on two
ground balls and a called third strike.
In addition to four hits by Takayoshi, who scored twice and drove
in four, Post, Moore and Shively had two hits apiece in the
Lutes' 13-hit assault. Wyckoff had three
hits for the Bruins, with two doubles, two runs and three RBIs.
With a split in the four-game series, George Fox is now 17-6
overall and 12-2 in the conference, while Pacific Lutheran is 18-7
overall and 14-4 in the league. The two remain
locked in a three-way battle for the NWC lead with Linfield
College, which is 20-3 overall and 14-2 in the
conference.
George Fox is scheduled to try to play a makeup game, possibly
two, with Willamette University in Salem, Ore., on Wednesday, but
no time on that has been confirmed. If not, the
Bruins will go to Whitworth University for 12:00 noon doubleheaders
Saturday and Sunday. Pacific Lutheran is off
until April 10-11, when the Lutes will host Whitworth in twinbills
each day, also at noon.