NEWBERG, Ore. – The George Fox baseball team took the Lutes to extra innings twice in their doubleheader, and in both games, they lost after gut-wrenching tenth innings, losing game one 12-5, and game two, 5-4. 

How It Happened - Game One
The Lutes opened the game with a run on an RBI base hit, to which the Bruins responded with their own RBI – a double off the bat of Carson Coulter. At the end of the first inning, GFU and Pacific Lutheran were tied, 1-1. Both sides settled into a rhythm on the mound for the next few innings, with only two hits over the next two innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, though, the Bruins loaded up the bases with one out. Evan Balingit hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who sent the ball to second trying to turn two and end the inning, ultimately beating out the throw and allowing the run to score. The Lutes were, however, able to get a runner out at the plate — the putout at home ended the fourth inning early, but the Bruins retained the lead, 2-1. 

PLU responded in a big way in the top of the fifth, hitting a three-run home run that put Fox in a 4-2 hole. The Bruins weren't able to respond in the bottom of the fifth, and the Lutes added another run to extend the deficit to 5-2. In the bottom half of the sixth, Noah Meffert hit his first home run of the season, an opposite-field shot on the first pitch that he saw that scored two runs and brought Fox back to within one run, 5-4. Both teams would hone in again from the mound, pitching scoreless innings until it was the bottom of the ninth, with the Bruins down to their final at-bats. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Jared Miller torched a 2-2 pitch to left field for his first home run of the season, tying the game at five runs each. The Bruins weren't able to win the game in the ninth, as they left runners on first and second, but Miller's heroics sent the game into the 10th inning. 

The tenth inning spelled heartbreak for the Bruins, as the Lutes loaded the bases with one out and then proceeded to score seven runs on five hits. The inning for the Bruins did not feature an extra-base hit from the Lutes, as Fox walked three batters in the inning and had one hit-by-pitch. The Bruins could not close the gap in the bottom half, as they lost, 12-5. 

How It Happened - Game Two
The Lutes opened the second game with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning, putting Fox behind, 3-0, right away. It took GFU a while to get the bats going, but in the fifth inning, they did in a big way, scoring three runs after loading the bases with three singles – which included multiple bunts – and tying the game, 3-3.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Mason Eastman laced a single to center field while Carson Coulter was standing on third. Coulter scored and the Bruins took a late 4-3 lead. The Bruins held that lead until the top of the ninth inning when the Lutes hit an RBI double to tie the game at four runs each going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Bruins were able to get runners on first and second with one out, but they were not able to score any runs and the game went into extra innings for the second game in a row. 

The Lutes wasted no time taking the lead, as their shortstop Brody Phinney hit his first home run of his career on the first pitch of the inning. The Bruins were down to their final three outs, and they were unable to score any runs with those outs. For a brief moment, it looked as though Meffert had tied it, coming just a few feet shy of tying the game with his own solo home run before the ball died just in front of the right field wall and was caught by the Lutes' right fielder. The Bruins dropped the second game, losing 5-4 in another extra-inning gut punch. 

Top Performances
Noah Meffert had five hits with three RBIs on the day. Jared Miller got on base all five at-bats in game one, picking up three hits and a pair of walks and hitting his first home run of the season. 

What It Means
The Bruins lost their five-game win streak, falling to 10-7 (1-4 NWC) on the year. The Lutes improved to 5-9 (3-3 NWC). 

What Comes Next
George Fox has one more shot at Pacific Lutheran tomorrow, with the first pitch coming at noon at Morse Athletic Fields in Newberg.