NEWBERG, Ore. --- The George Fox baseball team opened Northwest Conference play with a doubleheader at home against Willamette and swept the afternoon behind two complete-game outings from their starters on the mound.

How It Happened

The Bruins broke up the scoreless tie in game one after a wild pitch in the second inning brought Brandon King home for a 1-0 lead. Marc Audet and Emery Miller also came across in the inning for a 5-0 lead and what served as the winning runs. The Bruins built a 9-0 lead through four frames and then plated three in the bottom of the seventh, including a moon shot by Travis Miller, to walk it off with a run-rule 12-2 win behind a stellar complete-game outing from Christopher Stone and quality at-bats all day in the opener.

The Bruins grabbed an early 3-0 lead by the bottom of the fourth in game two. After stringing together a double and a sac fly in the third, and double with a wild pitch in the fourth, George Fox continued to blank the Bearcats behind a next-level performance on the hill by Sean Wiese. The sophomore southpaw was incredibly efficient and ended the day with 12 punchouts.

Top Performers

The Bruins' two starters each went the distance to save all the remaining arms in the 'pen for day two of the series. Wiese led the way with 12 strikeouts and Stone tallied six to keep the Bearcats off-balance all day. At the plate, the Bruins celebrated Miller Time with towering shots from Emery and Travis, respectively.

Their Thoughts

"It was a great day to win two and I thought Chris and Sean were outstanding on the mound today," said head coach Kevin Kopple. "It's great to be able to save our bullpen for tomorrow, and offensively we strung together great at-bats and got some big-time timely hits. Emery had a great day. One of our strengths [that we showed today] is that our lineup is tough, deep, not only one guy has to carry us, and now we have a great chance to get after it tomorrow and win a series."

What It Means

The Bruins improve to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in NWC action, while the Bearcats fall to 6-4 and 0-2 in NWC action.

What Happens Next

The two sides will finish their NWC season series on Sunday, Mar. 14, in Newberg. The start time is being bumped up to 11:00 am based on inclement weather in the forecast for the afternoon.