Photo Courtesy of Bailey Plumb

By: Jake Bienvenue

TACOMA --- The George Fox baseball team made the trek up to Washington for the first game of the Northwest Conference tournament, beating the conference champions and the top-ranked Lutes of Pacific Lutheran in a nail-biter, 7-6.

Recap:

The Bruins exploded in the top of the first, scratching across six runs to jump out to a lead early on. AJ Valencia got it going by walking to first, then stealing to second. Kyler Brudwick stepped up to the plate and singled to right center to send home Valencia. After loading the bases, Matt Voelzke stepped up to bat and was thrown a wild pitch, which allowed Brudwick to score. Another wild pitch with Dillon Blankenship at the plate allowed Jerred Seamons to score. Blankenship hit a three-run home run out of left field to cap off the huge inning for George Fox to take a 6-0 lead.

The Bruins kept it up in the top of the second as Austin Baek homered out of left field, pushing the Bruins' lead to 7-0.

The Lutes responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, one in the bottom of the sixth, and two in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Bruin lead to just one, 7-6.

Pacific Lutheran had the chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, but Matt Voelzke ended the game with a strikeout to help the Bruins pull off the upset.

Top Performers:

Blankenship paced the Bruins in RBIs, hitting the three RBI homer that helped push the team to victory. Baek chipped in a home run, and Brudwick batted in a runner to round out the scoring effort for the Bruins. Alex Jondal went six innings for the Bruins to record the win and Voelzke grabbed his ninth save of the season.

What It Means:

With the win, the Bruins improve to 22-16 on the season and will advance to the winner's bracket of the NWC Tournament.

What Comes Next:

The Bruins will face Willamette in the winner's bracket Saturday, April 21 at 1 pm.