Box Score By: Ryan Lackey
SPOKANE, Wash. --- The Bruins decided to make some history on Saturday.
After losing their second NWC tournament game yesterday to Linfield, the Bruin met hosts Whitworth in a must-win game, a last opportunity to reach the championship for the first time in school history.
Not only did the Bruins succeed, but they won with panache, defeating Whitworth 3-0, their record-breaking 31st win.
The hero of the day was starting pitcher Abbie Bergerson, who threw a precise complete-game five-hitter, exuding a coolness while mowing down Whitworth batters that suggested Koufax or Feller. Bergerson's win was her 19th of the season; she struck out six and didn't allow a single walk.
George Fox's offense revolved around shortstop Kayla Anderson and third baseman Annie Veatch, who both went 2-4. Veatch knocked in two of the Bruins' three runs, the other contributed by Amanda Woods. Atop the lineup, Kat Hylton did well to set the table, going 1-3 with a walk. Rebecca Pridmore went 1-2 and scored twice.
After a quiet two innings, the Bruins gave Bergerson all she would need in the third. Pridmore opened the inning with a sharp single in the hole, and after two quick outs Woods ripped a double to left to give Veatch runners on second and third. Veatch delivered, clubbing a single into left to give George Fox a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins nearly broke the game wide open in the fifth, when Hylton's free pass and Anderson's double set two runners in scoring position with one out, but Whitworth starter Mikayla Lefever did well to escape without damage.
As evidence of Bergerson's dominating day, Whitworth never had more than one baserunner in any single inning.
In the seventh, the Bruins added another for fun. Pridmore walked, went to third on Anderson's long double, and scored most unusually on Woods' sacrifice fly to the shortstop.
The victory – again, a new George Fox record 31st – puts the Bruins in the championship. The Bruins will play Linfield, who is undefeated in the tournament and will need to lose two games for the Bruins to bring home the title.
