WILSONVILLE, Ore. – Strong pitching
performances by starters Brian Davis and Brian
Ranta carried the George Fox University Bruins to a pair
of wins, 3-1 over the Oregon Institute of Technology and 5-2 over
Corban University, in the Cascade Collegiate Conference / Northwest
Conference Baseball Challenge Saturday here at Wilsonville High
School.
George Fox 3, Oregon Tech 1
After being rained out on Friday, the Bruins opened with a win
over the Owls as Davis (2-0) threw 6.1 innings of shutout ball,
allowing only three hits and two walks while striking out
four. The Owls loaded the bases against him in the seventh
with the Bruins holding a slim 2-0 lead, but Clay Gartner came in
to retire the last two outs on called strikes and went on to earn
his first save, though he did give up a run in the ninth.
The Bruins got a run in the first as Sam Stahl hit a sacrifice
fly to score Dan Winterstein with an unearned run. In the
fifth, Winterstein hit his first home run of the season to
right-center, and the Bruins got an insurance run in the seventh as
Eric Gantenbein and Josh Rapacz singled, Derek Aldrich was hit by a
pitch, and Derek Blankenship got a sacrifice fly when his pop down
the right-field line was caught by the first baseman running away
from the infield and Gantenbein was able to score.
The Bruins collected 12 hits while pinning the loss on Dylan
Bedortha (1-2) but stranded 11 runners. Taylor Hunter had
three hits to lead the way, with two hits apiece garnered by
Winterstein, Stahl, and Aldrich.
George Fox 5, Corban 2
Ranta (2-0) threw a complete nine-inning dandy, scattering five
hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks. His teammates backed
him with 10 hits, including three more by Hunter and two by both
Gantenbein and Carl Mason.
Winterstein walked and later scored on Gantenbein's
infield hit in the first, and the Bruins added two more in the
second, Winterstein's sacrifice fly plating Mason and
Hunter's single scoring Nate Hickok. Gantenbein doubled
and scored on Mason's single in the third, and Stahl singled
in Winterstein in the fourth to close out the George Fox
scoring.
Joshua Walker hit a two-run home run on a pitch up and out of
the strike zone in the seventh for the Warriors' only two
runs. Former Bruin Trevor Winsor (0-1) started and took the
loss for Corban.
NEXT: George Fox (6-0) concludes play in the
tournament Sunday at 11:00 a.m., taking on Concordia
University-Portland.
The revised tournament schedule for Sunday:
Field 1-Varsity Field
11:00 am - Concordia vs GFU
2:00 pm - Concordia vs PLU
Field 2-JV Field
11:00 am - Oregon Tech vs PLU
2:00 pm - Corban vs Pacific
