NEWBERG --- The George Fox baseball team battled high winds and two rain delays while splitting Saturday twinball with Lewis & Clark. The Bruins took game one in walk-off fashion, 11-9, before dropping a tough 12-2 loss in the nightcap.

Game One – Bruins 11, Pioneers 9

The Pioneers wasted no time, scoring their first run of the game with a solo home run in the top of the first. The Bruins quickly responded with three of their own in their half of the inning. A Matt Ramirez single plated Leon Johnson III, followed by a Sam Swenson double to advance Ramirez to third. Chase Fetzer stepped up to add the Bruins second and third runs of the game with a two-RBI single in the gap.

GFU helped the Pios score in second, plating a runner with a fielding error off an L&C single. The Bruins would wait to reply until the bottom of the third, but the answer was loud and clear. Ramirez and Fetzer were clutch once more, crushing two solo home runs for a 5-2 lead entering the fourth. Both upperclassmen swung for the fences on their first pitches.

Despite a two-out home run from the Pios, the Bruins tacked on three more runs to take a hefty 8-3 advantage into the back half of the contest. After a Cutter Kitson single, L&C returned the favor with two errors to plate Kitson and Jared Gee while placing Leon Johnson on third. Trevor Nannini sealed the third run with an RBI single to left field.

The teams exchanged runs in the next two innings, with Matt Voelzke scoring Matt Ramirez to lead 9-4 entering the seventh.

After striking out five batters in 6.0 inning of work, the Bruins retired Christopher Stone and brought up Isaac Olson in relief. The Bruins struggled to hold the Pios off in the seventh, giving up a three-RBI home run to tie the game at 9-9 with just one out on the board. Chase Fetzer would finish the inning on the mound before a seventh-inning rain delay and another pitching change in the eighth.

Freshman Austin Hallman posted back-to-back swinging strikeouts to end the top half of the inning while the offense backed him up with two runs minutes later. Ramirez singled and Sam Senson drew a walk before the Bruins found themselves in a two-on, two-out situation. Freshman Matt Sebolsky dropped a two-RBI single in left field to give the Bruins go-ahead runs it needed for the 11-9 walk-off. Hallman and classmate closer Sean Weise combined for four-straight strikeouts to seal the Bruin victory.

Game Two – Pioneers 12, Bruins 2

Pitching woes and a quiet afternoon at the plate spun an entirely different story for the Bruins in the nightcap. The blue and gold gave up three-spots in the first three innings before scoring two of their own in the bottom of the third.

After singling up the middle, Gee used a stolen base and a throwing error to reach third base. Ramirez was the highlight of the second game, punching a two-RBI bomb over left field to cut the deficit to 9-2.

The Pioneers went on to score three more unanswered runs in the fourth, fifth, and eighth innings for a final score of 12-2.

Top Performers

Ramirez had himself a game in the first contest, going 4-for-4 with a home run, four runs scored, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. Joining him with a game-one homer was Fetzer, who hit 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Ramirez added his second home run of the day in game two, tallying another two RBIs for a 5-for-8 performance on the day.

The Bruins combined for nine strikeouts in game one, led by Stone with five. The senior allowed four hits and three walks in six innings of work while tallying 62 strikes in his 98 total pitches. Freshman pitchers Hallman and Weise combined for four strikeouts while compiling 21 strikes in 27 pitches in their 1.2 innings pitched.

"Thought we swung the bats well today," said head coach Kevin Kopple. "Matt Ramirez and Matt Sebolsky came up big to win us game one. I'm excited to see how our guys respond tomorrow."

What It Means

The Bruins rank second in the Northwest Conference rankings with an overall record of 11-3 while going 7-1 in the league. Today's loss brings a 13-game hot streak to an end and deals GFU its first NWC loss.

What Happens Next

The Bruins will host the final game of the series tomorrow, Mar. 8 with first pitch set for noon.