McMINNVILLE, Ore. – While battling rainy conditions,the George Fox baseball team opened up their series against the Linfield Wildcats by splitting the two games of their doubleheader, losing game one, 3-2, and hanging on to win game two, 10-6.
How It Happened – Game One
Game one saw two effective pitching staffs from the mound. The Wildcats got a run in the second from a solo home run, while Fox scored on a
Carson Coulter double in the fourth. Other than those two runs, the starters for both sides –
Caleb Debban for GFU, and Camden Oram for Linfield – were on point.
In the sixth inning,
Mason Eastman hit a single and advanced to third on a single from
Bleu Ellis. Ellis stole second, and Eastman managed to score after an error from the Wildcat's catcher, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom half, however, the Wildcats were able to load the bases with two outs, then scored after a pair of walks to take the lead, 3-2.
Fox failed to get another runner into scoring position until the top of the ninth inning with two outs. With runners on first and second and down to our final out, Wildcats reliever Brian Mannion got out of the jam with a pop-up that ended the low-scoring first game.
How It Happened – Game Two
The Bruins' bats were much more active in game two, coming right out of the game break with two quick runs in the top of the first to go up, 2-0. One of those runs came from another
Noah Meffert triple, his seventh of the year, putting him one triple away from tying the GFU record for triples in a season.
Evan Balingit hit an RBI double in the second, followed by an RBI sac-fly from
Jared Miller to go up 4-0. Meffert followed up his RBI triple from the first inning with a two-run shot, giving the Bruins six runs in just two innings.
The Wildcats got a run in the third, making the score 6-1. The score would remain that way until the fifth inning, when Eastman hit an RBI single to add to the Bruins' lead and make the score, 7-1.
Jared Whitaker doubled to right to score another run, giving the Bruins a comfortable, 8-1 lead.
The Wildcats would respond with an incredible seventh of their own though — after loading the bases, they managed to score five runs using a single, a walk, and a pair of passed balls to score. After the seventh, the Wildcats had clawed back within striking distance, 8-6.
George Fox got a huge pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth, scoring on a Whitaker RBI single and a sacrifice bunt from Ellis that brought the Bruins' lead to four. The Wildcats in the bottom of the ninth, however, managed to load the bases with no outs against Bruins' reliever
Ryder Edwards. With the tying run standing at the plate, Edwards found a way to get the next two batters to fly out to left field, preventing any runners from scoring. With two outs, Edwards struck the Linfield batter to end the game, giving GFU the 10-6 win and a shot at a series victory on Sunday.
Top Performances
Evan Balingit had four hits on the day, including going 3-4 in game one and picking up an RBI double in game two.
Noah Meffert went 2-4 in game two, with those two hits being an RBI triple and a two-RBI home run.
Ryder Edwards picked up the win on the mound in the game two victory.
What It Means
The Bruins remain .500 in conference play and now sit at 16-11 (7-7 NWC). Linfield now sits at 10-15 (5-8 NWC).
What Comes Next
The series rubber match will be tomorrow at noon in McMinnville,Ore. with George Fox looking to end the weekend with a win to set them up for the key series against the Pacific Boxers on April 12th.
