Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 PARKLAND, Wash. – Danny Clifford slugged
a go-ahead home run in the 11th inning to give the George Fox
University Bruins an 8-6 first-game win, but the Pacific Lutheran
University Lutes took the second 8-2 behind Trevor Lubking's
13 strikeouts for a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader
split Saturday afternoon here at the PLU Baseball Field.
Game 1 - George Fox 8, at Pacific Lutheran 6 (11
innings)
Clifford's sixth home run of the year leading off the top
of the 11th and an RBI single by Zach Miller after a two-out double
by Derek Dixon gave the Bruins the win in the opener after they had
squandered a 6-2 lead with ace right-hander Brian Ranta on the
mound. Ranta went 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits and three
runs, two earned, with 10 strikeouts and five walks.
PLU got a run off Ranta in the 1st when Dominick Coury and Corey
Moore singled, Brock Gates was intentionally walked after a
sacrifice, and Curtis Wildung grounded a single through the left
side. The Bruins got that run back in the 2nd on a double by Derek
Blankenship, a single by Timothy Williams, and a run-scoring
infield single by Jared Chase.
The Bruins went ahead with three in the 3rd. Williams led
off with a walk and Dixon doubled down the left-field line to score
him. Dixon advanced to third on a wild pitch, and after
starting pitcher Collin Nilson was lifted in favor of Ryan Frost,
Chase laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to make it 3-1. Todd
Nagamine hit a single, Taylor Hunter was hit by a pitch, and Josh
Rapacz flared a single to right to drive in Nagamine.
The Lutes scored in the 5th when Moore hit a double and
scored on a single by Gates, but the Bruins used the bunting game
to get two runs on two hits and a PLU error to take a 6-2
advantage in the 8th. A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt
accounted for an unearned run, and the second came in on Chase's
second squeeze bunt.
That set up a big PLU rally in the bottom of the 8th against
relievers Clay Gartner and Alex Keenan, sparked by consecutive
one-out fielding errors that opened the door. Moore hit a
sacrifice fly to drive in the first run, and Courcy scored on a
wild pitch for the second. Jaron Iwakami singled and Gates
walked to bring Wildung to the plate, and he drilled a double into
right to score both runners and tie the game.
The Lutes had a great chance to win it in the bottom of the
9th after Sammy Davis led off with a double, but after reaching
third on a sacrifice bunt, he was thrown out trying to score on a
wild pitch. Both teams wasted scoring chances in the 10th before
Clifford and Miller came up with the big hits for the Bruins,
pinning the loss on Jacob Otness (3-2).
The Lutes put two runners on base in the bottom of the 11th, but
consecutive fly outs ended the game and gave Taylor Hill (3-3), the
Bruins' fourth pitcher, the win after two innings of one-hit
shutout relief.
Both teams had 12 hits and stranded plenty of runners, the
Lutes leaving 17 and the Bruins 14. Dixon had three hits and
Williams two for George Fox. Wildung was 3-for-3 with three
RBI and three walks for PLU, while Courcy, Moore, Iwakami and
Gates all had a pair of hits.
Game 2 - Pacific Lutheran 8, George Fox 2
Lubking (3-3), a freshman southpaw, was dominating, striking out
13 with two walks in 7.1 innings in the second game. He
fanned the side in the 1st and 4th innings, retired nine straight
at one stretch, and did not give up a hit until Blankenship hit a
two-run homer, his first, down the left-field line with one out in
the 6th after Williams was hit with a pitch. The only other
hit he allowed was Dixon's infield roller with two out in the
6th.
PLU struck in the 3rd to pin the loss on Bruin starter Taylor
Dunn (3-2). Moore led off with a single and, after
Iwakami reached on a force out, Gates crushed his seventh homer
over the fence in left-center. Moore also led off the 5th,
this time with a double, and scored on a single by Gates. After a
two-out walk to Frost, Nilson doubled inside the bag at third
to drive in two runs and make it 5-0 Lutes.
The Lutes added three more runs on two hits and a George Fox
error in the 8th. Nicholas Hall reached on an error, Jacob
Olsufka was hit by a pitch, and Courcy drew a walk to load the
bases. Moore followed with a run-scoring single to right, and
Iwakami got a two-run base hit to center.
Nathan Eisenhauer, who relieved Lubking in the eighth, earned
his second save by giving up no hits while walking one and striking
out one in the final 1.2 innings.
Moore had three of PLU's nine hits, while Gates and Wildung had
two hits each. Gates drove in three runs.
NEXT: The Bruins (16-17, NWC 12-8) and Lutes
(19-11, NWC 11-6) will conclude their three-game series with a
single game Sunday at 12:00 noon.