NEWBERG --- The George Fox baseball team opened its 2020 Northwest Conference slate on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a doubleheader against Pacific Lutheran.

Recap

Game One

The Bruins put Christopher Stone on the hill to start game one and got seven innings from the lanky senior in a winning effort. The senior righty struck out four and induced 15 batters to fly or ground out beyond the four he retired via strikeout, allowing just one run on five hits without issuing a walk. Nate Leid and Andrew Hunter combined for the final two innings in the winning effort.

After a quiet first frame, the Bruins broke up the scoreless tie with a tally in the bottom of the second inning. Travis Miller made his way on with a walk and came around on an RBI single from Jared Gee into shallow right center field.

George Fox broke the game open in the third with five runs for a 6-0 lead. Matt Voelzke hit an RBI single, Miller drew an RBI walk, Matthew Sebolsky hit a two-RBI single into center field, and Gee followed with an RBI single into center.

Voelzke added a two-run homer in the fourth for an 8-0 lead and hit another two-run shot in the sixth for a 10-0 lead. Later in the sixth, Gee pushed a run across with a fielder's choice and Leon Johnson III followed with an RBI double off the wall in center field.

PLU scratched one run across in the top of the seventh, but the Bruins answered back with a two-RBI double hit by Franklin Leonard to take a 15-1 win in game one.

Game Two

The Bruins put Landon Schirer on the mound to start game two and got six innings from the right-hander. Schirer struck out six and walked two in a shutout effort before being replaced by Austin Hallman to start the seventh. Hallman struck out two and Alex Abbott worked a clean eighth before Ethan Croley finished the game with a scoreless ninth frame.

The Bruins wasted little time in taking the lead. After shutting down the Lutes in the top of the first, the Bruins pushed in Trevor Nannini with an RBI single up the middle hit by Matt Ramirez.

After another quiet frame from the Lutes in the second, George Fox broke the game wide open with four runs for a 5-0 lead. A Gee double to left center plated Chase Fetzer and Johnson III chased Gee in with a double of his own down the line in left. Nannini came to the plate next and smashed a two-run shot over the wall in left center for the 5-0 advantage.

The Bruins tacked on two more after Fetzer brought Voelzke in with a two-run shot to left center for a 7-0 lead, and the Bruins added single tallies in the fourth and sixth frames for a 9-0 lead after good baserunning by Johnson III turned into two more runs for the freshman outfielder.

Top Performers

The Bruins' offensive unit as a whole hit .405 on the day with 30 hits and 24 runs scored. Fetzer led the way with a four-for-six day at the plate and two walks which turned into four runs scored and four RBI. Voelzke hit four-for-nine with two homers and a double, and Nannini was two-for-three with a two-run shot and five walks drawn at the dish.

On the mound, Schirer and Stone combined for a nasty one-two punch and allowed only six hits and two walks through 13 innings of effort between the Bruins' two starters, while Hallman was the Bruins' most effective reliever on the day with two K's and no baserunners allowed.

What It Means

The Bruins improve to 6-2 overall and are 2-0 to start their NWC slate. They have outscored opponents by 30 runs already in the young season and look very impressive when they execute as they did today.

What Happens Next

The Bruins will wrap up the NWC series tomorrow with a single game on Sunday, Feb. 23, with a first pitch scheduled for 11:00 am.