Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 NEWBERG, Ore. – Connor Harris polished
off a four-hit shutout of a suspended game and Danny
Clifford slugged a tie-breaking three-run home run in the
series finale as the George Fox University Bruins completed a
Northwest Conference baseball sweep of the Willamette University
Bearcats 6-0 and 8-4 Sunday afternoon here at Morse Field.
With the sweep, George Fox improved to 15-5 overall and 8-1 in
the conference, while Willamette slipped to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in
the league. The Bruins are now tied for first in the NWC with
Linfield College, which took three straight at home from Whitman
College over the weekend. Former leader and defending NWC
champion Whitworth University dropped two of three at Pacific
Lutheran University, so George Fox and Linfield sit atop the
conference now at 8-1, followed by Whitworth at 4-2 and PLU at
6-3.
Game 1 - George Fox 6, Willamette 0
After the Bruins took Saturday's series opener 12-5, the
second game of a scheduled doubleheader was suspended by rain after
an inning-and-a-half with George Fox holding a 3-0 lead.
Harris, who had thrown 20 pitches in the first two innings on
Saturday, was sent back out on Sunday to go as far as he could -
and the southpaw was brilliant in finishing what he had
started. He had a no-hitter until one out in the 5th, allowed
only four hits in all, struck out three with one walk, and needed
only 84 pitches in nine innings as he raised his record to 5-0 and
lowered his ERA to 1.95.
On Saturday, the Bruins scored three in the 1st inning off
Albert Garcia (1-3) on a two-run double by Timothy Williams and a
sacrifice fly by Derek Dixon. They added another run in
Garcia's only inning of work on Sunday when Matthew Zeller
was hit by a pitch, Zach Miller walked, and Josh Rapacz lined a
single up the middle to score Zeller in the 2nd.
The Bruins tacked on two more runs in the 5th against reliever
Peter Davis. Rapacz was hit by a pitch, Clifford singled up
the middle, and Williams doubled to right to score Rapacz.
Clifford was trapped off third on the play and tagged out, but
Derek Dixon doubled to left to score Williams.
Zeller and Zach Hegelmeyer led a 15-hit George Fox attack by
going 3-for-4 each. Rapacz, Williams, and Dixon had two hits
apiece, with Williams doubling twice and driving in three.
Game 2 - George Fox 8, Willamette 4
In the finale, George Fox middle man Eric Kittelson (3-1) threw
five innings of three-hit shutout relief with one strikeout and no
walks, giving the Bruins time to bang out 17 hits and rally from an
early three-run deficit.
The Bearcats took their only lead of the series in the 3rd when
Bruin starter Tom Zarosinski issued walks to Tyson Giza and Tosh
Semlacher and Hunter Gallant doubled down the left-field line to
drive in Giza. Brad Breier then singled down the line to
score Semlacher and Gallant for a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins got one run back in the home half on a double to left
by Zach Miller and an RBI single to center by Clifford off of
Bearcat starter Brandon Simon, who struck out six over five innings
but eventually surrendered eight hits and three walks. A
two-run 4th tied it, starting with back-to-back doubles by Dixon
and Emmett Ackerlund. Zac Israel sacrificed Ackerlund to
third, and the runner broke for home on contact on
Hegelmeyer's slow grounder to third. Gallant charged
the ball with the apparent intent to throw home, but slipped before
he could make a play at the plate and had to settle for an out at
first as Ackerlund scored the tying run.
Left-hander Henry Harrison (0-1) took over for Simon in the 6th
and, after a strikeout of the first batter he faced, surrendered
singles to Miller and Rapacz before Clifford launched his second
home run of the season to left for a 6-3 George Fox lead.
Williams singled, Dixon doubled him to third, and after Parker
Johnson relieved, Jared Chase greeted him with a sharp single
against a drawn-in infield off the glove of Austin Hagarty at
second, driving in both runners to cap a five-run outburst.
Willamette picked up its final run in the 9th against Alex
Keenan. Corbin Bennett reached on an infield single and went
to second on a ground out to first. Giza's sharp
grounder to short hit Bennett, resulting in the runner being out
and Giza getting credit for a hit. After stealing second,
Giza scored on a Matt Hirsch single to right.
Dixon went 4-for-5 with two more doubles, Miller was 3-for-5
with two doubles, Clifford was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, and Williams
was 2-for-5. Five Bearcats - Giza, Hirsch, Gallant, Ben
Petersen and Bennett - had two hits each.
NEXT: George Fox steps outside the conference
Tuesday, hosting Concordia University-Portland at 3:00 p.m. ...
After opening the season against conference powers Pacific
Lutheran, Linfield, and George Fox, Willamette welcomes
cellar-dwelling Lewis & Clark College for a three-game set next
weekend, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00
noon.