NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox baseball team finished their series against Pacific, losing , 9-3, after big sixth and eighth innings from the Boxers. After their game, GFU had their Senior day as they celebrated and honored their seniors for their careers in the program.
How It Happened
The game began with a pitchers battle as each team tried to find holes in the field; starting on the mound for the Bruins was senior
Aidan Rady who made it hard for the Boxers to even get on base. After a quick first and top of the second, Fox's bats began to come alive — especially for
Adam Fulton. On a 3-2 pitch, Fulton teed up the ball and sent it deep to right center for a lead-off triple, the first of his career. After a
Gabe DeBenedetto walk, senior
Danner Hamburg hit a strategic sac fly to bring Fulton sliding safely into home for the first run of the game, 1-0.
Over the next three innings, the game became defense oriented once again. Rady continued to dominate on the mound while the rest of GFU's defense put up a wall that Pacific could not get past. It took until the top of the sixth for the Boxer's bats to heat up, and when they did, they were relentless. They were able to string together many base-hits, a double, and some steals to tie the game and more; by the end of the sixth, Pacific had tied the game and more to widen the gap in score to 5-1.
The seventh provided a small break from the Boxers offensive streak — this time with
Joey Wilcox pitching for Fox — but it started back up again in the eighth. The score was quickly made 9-1 after Pacific made the most of being hit as well as GFU's errors. Despite the Boxers lead, George Fox remained resilient — especially senior
Andre Butler. On a 1-2 pitch, Butler sent the ball for a double down the right field line and.
After a well-disciplined walk from senior
Kaden Oshiro,
Jayson Au Hoy came in to pinch run. Shortly after, senior
Declan Corrigan smacked a ball on a 0-2 pitch out to left field to not only move Au Hoy into scoring position, but the hit had just enough power to send pinch runner
Dylon Poulin around to score. Senior
BJ Tokushima was next up to the plate, and while he unfortunately got hit, it was enough to load the bases for
Austin Stalwick. In his last at-bat as a senior, Stalwick recorded a sac fly that helped Au Hoy slide safely into home. Just as the Bruins comeback was getting started, it came to a close as Pacific's defense remained relentless and didn't allow any other runs to get on the board; the game ended with a bittersweet Boxer 9-3 win.
Despite their loss, George Fox ended the day on a happy note after honoring their seniors for their careers at GFU. In total, the Bruins had 13 seniors:
Andre Butler,
Kaden Oshiro, Micheal Singleton,
Gabe DeBenedetto,
Danner Hamburg,
Evan Balingit,
Austin Stalwick,
BJ Tokushima,
Spencer Simon,
Andrew Miller (an athletic junior graduating early),
Declan Corrigan,
Aidan Rady, and
Luke Vrable. Each and every one of these players had incredible seasons and will be missed as they head into their next chapters of life.
Top Performances
In total, Fox had a total of five hits with five players having one apiece:
Garrett Strube, Berkeley Reents,
Declan Corrigan,
Austin Stalwick, and
Andre Butler. Stalwick and Corrigan also each recorded an RBI for the Bruins. The team was also well-disciplined throughout the game and had seven walks. In his last game, senior
Aidan Rady had three strikeouts and only walked one batter.
What It Means
The Boxers record rises to 15-23 (11-12 NWC), while the Bruins are now 14-23 (8-12 NWC). With the loss, the Bruins are eliminated from postseason contention
What Happens Next
The Bruins will have a short break before they are back in action to finish their season on Friday, May 1 for their series against Willamette. The series will begin with a double header in Salem, Ore.; first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
