NEWBERG, Ore. – A well-rounded effort by
an offense that banged out 27 hits, a defense that made no errors,
and a pitching staff that allowed one run in 18 innings carried the
George Fox University Bruins to an 8-1, 10-0 Northwest Conference
baseball doubleheader sweep of the Pacific University Boxers
Saturday afternoon here at Morse Field.
Mark Putney (2-2) got the win for the Bruins in the opener,
scattering six hits while striking out four with no walks in seven
innings. Travis Schroeder and Adam Weber closed the game with
one no-hit inning each. The Boxers' only run of the day
came in the 6th on a double by Brandon Kon, a wild pitch, and a
run-scoring ground out by Kevin Schwartz.
The Bruins jumped on Pacific ace Tyler Fransen (1-3) with four
in the 1st. Josh Burch tagged Fransen's first pitch of
the game for a triple to dead center, and Sam Stahl scored him one
out later with a triple to right-center. Stahl scored on Seth
Anderson's ground out, then Dan Winterstein doubled down the
left-field line and scored on Michael Woo's single to
center. Singles by Brent Trask and Eric Gantenbein plated
Woo.
The Bruins added an unearned run on an Anderson single to score
Nate Hickok in the 2nd, and closed out the scoring with three in
the 6th, Jason Brown slugging a pinch two-run
homer to right and Anderson delivering another run with a sacrifice
fly. All the George Fox runs came off Fransen, who went the
full eight innings and allowed 11 hits, fanning four and walking
three.
Burch, Stahl, and Gantenbein all had two hits for the Bruins,
while Anderson collected three RBIs. Burch reached base all
five times up on two hits, a walk, and two hit by pitches.
Kon had two hits for Pacific.
In the nightcap, Jeremy Cheney (2-1) spaced four hits over seven
innings, fanning seven, including the side in the 3rd, and walking
one. Schroeder and Chad Jones worked a scoreless inning apiece to
end the game, each surrendering one hit.
A six-run Bruins' explosion in the 3rd against Rob
Dittrick (1-2) gave Cheney more than enough cushion. Hickok,
Anderson, and Josh Rapacz all rapped RBI singles before Anderson
scored the inning's fourth run on a balk. Gantenbein
capped the outburst with a two-run double off reliever Blane Lloyd,
who settled down to shut out the Bruins over the next three
innings.
The Bruins finally got to Lloyd for a run in the 7th as Brown
scored on Woo's force out grounder, then added three more in
the 8th. Rapacz hit a two-run double and scored later on a
force out by Winterstein.
Brown completed a perfect day at the plate by going 4-for-4 as
the Bruins knocked out 16 hits. Stahl had three hits, while
Anderson, Rapacz, Winterstein, and Gantenbein had two each.
Joey Pulito and Kaeo Lau Hee had two apiece for the Boxers.
George Fox is now 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference, while
Pacific is 5-9 overall and 3-5 in the NWC. The three-game
series concludes Sunday with a single game at 12:00 noon in
Newberg.
