By Joshua Nutter

TUCSON, Ariz. --- The George Fox softball team wrapped up its trip to Arizona and the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Sunday. The Bruins fell to Alma College 7-6 before the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to rain, including their final contest against LeTourneau.

Recap

The Bruins bats have been hot all weekend and started the same way Sunday morning against the Scots before ultimately coming up short. 

Fox got on the board early and often, scoring three runs in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Kamryn Potter continued her blistering pace at the plate with a leadoff home run, while Aaliyah Kautz showed some muscle to keep up her strong weekend, drilling a two-run shot in the first inning. 

The Bruins added another run in the top of the second when Claire Fountain's base hit was enough to send Emma Classen home, making it 4-0 GFU. 

The Scots refused to go away, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third, including a three-run homer by Becca Spenner to even it up at 4-4. 

Alma added another run in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead before scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-4. 

Fox made a strong effort to rally back in the seventh inning. Savannah Vargas hit a solo shot to make it 7-5 before Kautz did the same thing on the very next at-bat to make it 7-6 after back-to-back Bruins bombs. Alma shut it down from there, and the Bruins were unable to finish off a comeback. 

Top Performers

Kautz, Potter, and Vargas were phenomenal all weekend. They each homered in Sunday's game while Vargas and Kautz tallied three homers on the weekend. Kautz's three dingers give her a team-high seven homers on the year. Potter had two homers in Tuscon and batted .384 on the weekend. Kautz was .500 at the plate these past few days while Vargas batted a tremendous .600 at the tournament. 

What It Means

The loss moves the blue and gold to 10-5 overall while remaining undefeated in conference play at 4-0. The Bruins rank third in the conference standings behind Whitworth, with both teams posting a 7-3 record over the last ten games.

What Happens Next

The Bruins return home and dive into Northwest Conference action, beginning with a two-day series against Pacific Lutheran. GFU hosts the Lutes on Saturday, Mar. 14 with first pitch slated for noon.