NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox baseball team won both of their games against the visiting Vassar College Brewers, winning in two vastly different ways as they took the first in extra innings, 3-2, and the second by a wide margin, 13-2.
How It Happened - Game One
Pitching was the story of the first game, as both teams' arms were lights out from the mound for the entire game. George Fox starter
Caleb Debban went for six innings, only giving up one run while striking out eight batters before Micheal Singleton came into the game and took it the rest of the way – throwing four innings and picking up the win.
The Bruins got on the board first, scoring a run in the third after a double from
Ty Davis, who moved to third after a sacrifice bunt. A fielding error by the Brewers scored Davis, giving the Bruins a one-run lead at the bottom of the third, 1-0. Vassar responded in the fifth inning, loading up the bases with one out in what would be Debban's biggest test on the day; A walk tied the game, 1-1, but Debban responded by getting a Vassar batter to ground into a double-play, which ended the inning and stopped any more bleeding. At the end of five innings, the game was tied at one run apiece.
Both offenses would be stopped still for the rest of the scheduled nine innings, forcing the game to go extras. In the top of the tenth, the Brewers took a seemingly devastating lead, scoring off an RBI double that gave them a 2-1 lead going into the final at-bats for Fox. GFU responded resoundingly:
Mason Eastman drew a walk to open the bottom half of the tenth before being moved over to second by a sacrifice bunt.
Jeremy Sangalang got on first with a hit-by-pitch, and then both runners moved forward on a passed ball.
With runners on second and third and one out,
Carson Coulter hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored a run and tied the game. With two outs and a runner on third,
Jonathan Stone played hero ball, hitting a walk-off infield single on an 0-2 pitch, narrowly beating out the throw to score Sangalang and grab the victory. After ten innings, the Bruins walked away from game one with a 3-2 win.
How It Happened - Game Two
The Bruins' pitching staff remained just as dominant in the second game, with the offense getting going as well. The Bruins would pour on 13 runs in a shortened game, winning 13-2.
The Brewers scored the first run, getting home on a Bruins error in the opening inning. Fox would tie the game in the third inning – tying the game on an Eastman sacrifice fly. GFU would take the lead in the next inning, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth after Sangalang opened the frame with a home run to left field, with
Jared Whitaker scoring from third on a sacrifice bunt to put Fox up, 3-1. GFU added another run in the fourth inning, this run coming from a fielding error from the Brewers.
The rain from Foxes bats turned into a downpour in the sixth inning, scoring five runs (RBIs coming from Davis, Sangalang, and
Isaac Snyder). The lead ballooned up to 9-1 after the sixth. The Brewers would tack on a single run in the top of the seventh before the Bruins would go right back to work in the seventh inning.
After two walks put men on first and second, Eastman hit an RBI single that brought the lead to 10-1. Two batters later, with two outs,
Evan Balingit hit a moon shot over the center field fence that scored three more runs, hitting a ball 397 feet deep and nearly clearing the barns behind centerfield, pushing the lead to its final tally of 13-2 after the team agreed to a forfeit.
Top Performances
The Bruins saw dominant pitching throughout the two games, particularly from
Caleb Debban in game one – the junior struck out eight in six innings.
Michael Singleton won the first game, and
Aidan Rady struck out four in game two on his way to a win. In the batter's box,
Jonathan Stone picked up two hits in game one, including the walk-off RBI in the tenth inning. In game two,
Evan Balingit and
Jeremy Sangalang each had two hits, three RBIs, and a home run.
Coach's Thoughts
"We did a good job fighting hard to get the win even when the bats didn't go our way in game one," Bruin head coach
Kevin Kopple said, "Very pleased with our guys, especially our pitching staff."
What It Means
The Bruins improved to 8-5 (1-2 NWC), and have now won three games in a row, outscoring their opponents 26-5 over those three games. Vassar fell to 1-2 for their young season.
What Comes Next
The Bruins wrap the series against the Brewers tomorrow, with the first pitch at noon on Saturday, March 8, at Morse Athletic Fields.
