FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The George Fox University baseball team opened up their three game series with two losses to the University of Pacific Boxers on the road, dropping the first game 4-2, and the second game, 1-8.

How It Happened – Game One
The Boxers got on the board first in game one, putting up two runs in the bottom of the second with a pair of two-out RBI singles to go up 2-0. The Bruins had runners in scoring position in both the second and the first inning, but were unable to move either runner past first, and stranded both runners. After the early runs from Pacific, Bruins' starter Caleb Debban settled into a rhythm, not giving up a run in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. 

George Fox got their first run of the day across in the middle of Debban's lockdown stretch, scoring a run after freshman Adam Fulton hit an RBI single with runners on second and third. The base knock scored the runner from third, and brought the Bruins within a run, down 2-1. 

The Boxers were able to tag Debban with another pair of runs in the sixth inning, scoring off an RBI double and an RBI single that put the Bruins behind by three runs, 4-1, with three innings of play left in the game. Fox was able to gain one of those runs back in the top of the eighth, this time off the bat of senior Carson Coulter, who hit an RBI double with one out that scored one and made the game 4-2. Coulter advanced the third, but the Bruins were unable to move him the final 90 feet (on the day, the Bruins went 1-9 with runners in scoring position, as the Boxer's pitching kept finding ways out of potential jams). 

GFU relief pitcher Lucas Plenert held the Boxers in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Bruins a chance in the top of the ninth, but Fox was unable to generate any traffic on the basepaths, and dropped the game 4-2. 

How It Happened – Game Two
The second game of the day started out as a pitcher's duel between Bruins' starter Aidan Rady and Boxers' starter Chance Wallace. Through the first three innings neither team had scored a run, as Rady racked up three strikeouts to Wallace's one. 

The Boxers broke the tie with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning that made the score 1-0, with GFU behind. Then, in the bottom of the sixth the Boxers blew the game open, scoring five runs on five hits, and ballooning the Bruins deficit to 6-0 heading into the top of the seventh inning. A Boxers homer in the 8th scored two more runs, pushing the score to 8-0 heading into the top of the ninth. The Bruins grabbed one run in their final at bats, scoring off a Fulton single, but Fox was unable to score anything else, dropping the second game 8-1. 

Top Performances
Adam Fulton had four hits and two RBIs on the day, and Caleb Debban pitched six innings in game one giving up four runs and striking out five.

What It Means
The Bruins now sit at 11-25 (5-15 NWC) while the Boxers are 15-15 (15-8 NWC). The losses eliminate GFU from postseason contention.

What Comes Next
Fox wraps up the three game set at Pacific on Sunday, April 26, at noon in Forest Grove, Ore.