NEWBERG, Ore. – A pitchers' duel in
the first game went to the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes 2-1
before the George Fox University Bruins bounced back to win the
second-game offensive battle 10-7, earning a split of their
Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader Sunday afternoon here at
Morse Field.
The Bruins, ranked 24th in the latest D3baseball.com national
poll, took the series two games to one after winning Saturday 4-3,
improving to 11-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The
Lutes fell to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in league play. The two
teams are expected to be serious contenders in the NWC race this
season, George Fox having been picked third in the pre-season poll
and PLU second behind Linfield College.
In Sunday's opener, PLU right-hander Scott Wall (2-0)
out-dueled George Fox freshman righty Clay Gartner (1-1).
Wall went the distance, scattering six hits with only one unearned
run and nine strikeouts without a walk. Gartner went 7.2
innings, allowing eight hits and two runs with three strikeouts and
two walks, before Andrew Snyder threw the final 1.1 innings of
one-hit shutout relief.
PLU took a 1-0 lead in the second when Dan Johansen unloaded on
Gartner's first pitch of the inning with a line shot down the
left-field line for his first home run of the season. The
Lutes added another run in the third as Jacob Hoffman beat out a
two-out grounder behind the third-base bag, moved up on a walk to
Zack Halverson, and scored on Jaron Iwakami's single to
right.
The Bruins picked up their only run in the eighth. Dan
Winterstein singled to right with two out and took second when the
ball was over-run, then scored when Taylor Hunter's grounder
to deep short was bounced into the PLU dugout.
George Fox threatened again in the ninth as Zac Israel doubled
with two out and Todd Nagamine drove a long fly to deep
right-center, but right fielder Iwakami made a fine running catch
to preserve the win.
In the nightcap, both starting pitchers had control
issues. PLU's Nathan Eisenhauer struck out three in
2.0-plus innings, but allowed three hits, walked six, and threw two
wild pitches. Brian Davis of George Fox also went 2.0-plus
innings and fanned three, but gave up three hits, hit three
batters, and threw a wild pitch. After three innings that
took an hour and 20 minutes play, the Lutes held a 6-5 lead, having
scored three in both the second and third innings while the Bruins
got two in the first and three in the third.
PLU made it 7-5 in the sixth when Johansen singled in Jacob
Olsufka, but the Bruins rallied to take the lead in the home half
against reliever Ryan Frost (0-1). Nagamine singled to right,
Nate Hickok was hit by a pitch, and Winterstein singled off
Frost's glove to load the bases with one out.
Hunter's double down the left-field line tied the score, and
Sam Stahl delivered two more runs with a double to the same
spot.
The Lutes threatened in the eighth against reliever Snyder as
Nicholas Hall singled and Olsufka was hit by a pitch with one
out. Jacob Brown replaced Snyder and got a
ground out to second that put the tying runs in scoring position,
then struck out cleanup hitter Johansen to escape the danger.
After the Bruins tacked on an unearned run in the last of the
eighth, Brown gave up two hits in the ninth but got a big 4-6-3
double play to help him earn his second save of the season.
Kyle Albertson (2-1), the second of four George Fox hurlers,
worked four innings and got the win with the Bruins' big
rally in the sixth.
Winterstein had three hits for the Bruins, while Stahl and
Nagamine had two apiece. Corey Moore collected three hits for
the Lutes, with Iwakami, Ryan Aratani, Brock Gates, and Hall
getting two each.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Corban University
Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in a non-conference game ... Pacific
Lutheran visits NCAA Division I Seattle University Saturday for a
single game at 12:00 noon.