Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TACOMA, Wash. --- Fox took the opening game of its series against NWC frontrunner Puget Sound on Saturday, Mar. 12, and turned a 5-4 lead and a rain delay into a 9-4 win on Sunday, Mar. 13, to clinch the series.

Game One

After multiple weeks of strong starts but little run support behind him, Sean Wiese officially earned his first victory of the season after another seven-inning outing. The southpaw struck out five with four hits and two earned runs scattered throughout. Alex Abbott and Andrew Sutherland closed the game for Fox in the win with an inning apiece.

Spencer Roos drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the first, scoring Jared Miller from third for an early 1-0 lead in the first. Puget Sound answered with a run in the second, but Fox added two more in the third with an RBI single from Brandon King and an RBI double pulled into left by Roos. Roos drove another run home in the fifth with an RBI groundout, and Jeremy Sangalang drove two more runs home in the sixth with a double to center field, scoring Jared Gee and Noah Meffert in the process for a 6-1 lead.

Fox had to hold on as the Loggers answered back with four unanswered runs, but they were able to hold off the rally for a 6-5 win in the opener.

Game Two

Travis Miller started game two and lasted four innings for Fox before exiting without a decision after striking out three and walking three others. Gordon Wend worked the next three innings and got the game into the eighth after allowing two runs - one unearned - while scattering three hits throughout his relief appearance.

Puget Sound struck first with a pair of runs in the first, but Fox tied it at 2-2 after plating a run in the third and another in the sixth. Sangalang singled up the middle in the third to drive in Breyndon Nakamura, and Sangalang would also score himself in the sixth on a wild pitch.

After the Loggers retook the lead, 3-2, in the sixth inning, the Bruins plated three in the seventh to grab the game back from UPS.

Gee and Miller both doubled, and an RBI groundout from Sangalang made it 5-3 after six and a half innings. The Loggers got one across in the seventh, but the game resumed with a Bruin lead, none out, and Tyler Durant due up in the top of the eighth on Sunday. The Bruins picked up where they had left off, plating four in the ninth to support Meffert in a relief outing. Gee reached on an error while plating Nakamura, Sangalang singled Gee home, and Derek Williams drove a pinch-hit homer out of the park for the 9-4 lead and two RBI. Meffert finished the final two innings and earned a save in the process after striking out all six batters that he faced.

Top Performances

Wiese was great for Fox once again in his first win, and Sangalang is once again putting NWC player-of-the-week plate appearances together for Fox in Tacoma. Meffert's save is his second of the season and Williams' pinch-hit homer is his second collegiate bomb.

What It Means

Fox is now 11-9 on the year with a 5-3 NWC record in second on the conference leaderboard, and a win in the finale can help them jump the Loggers for first place.

Up Next

The Bruins will finish their series finale immediately following the conclusion of game two to see if Fox can sweep the series and grab the conference lead from UPS.