WILSONVILLE, Ore. – Strong pitching performances by starters Brian Davis and Brian Ranta carried the George Fox University Bruins to a pair of wins, 3-1 over the Oregon Institute of Technology and 5-2 over Corban University, in the Cascade Collegiate Conference / Northwest Conference Baseball Challenge Saturday here at Wilsonville High School.
George Fox 3, Oregon Tech 1
After being rained out on Friday, the Bruins opened with a win over the Owls as Davis (2-0) threw 6.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits and two walks while striking out four. The Owls loaded the bases against him in the seventh with the Bruins holding a slim 2-0 lead, but Clay Gartner came in to retire the last two outs on called strikes and went on to earn his first save, though he did give up a run in the ninth.
The Bruins got a run in the first as Sam Stahl hit a sacrifice fly to score Dan Winterstein with an unearned run. In the fifth, Winterstein hit his first home run of the season to right-center, and the Bruins got an insurance run in the seventh as Eric Gantenbein and Josh Rapacz singled, Derek Aldrich was hit by a pitch, and Derek Blankenship got a sacrifice fly when his pop down the right-field line was caught by the first baseman running away from the infield and Gantenbein was able to score.
The Bruins collected 12 hits while pinning the loss on Dylan Bedortha (1-2) but stranded 11 runners. Taylor Hunter had three hits to lead the way, with two hits apiece garnered by Winterstein, Stahl, and Aldrich.
George Fox 5, Corban 2
Ranta (2-0) threw a complete nine-inning dandy, scattering five hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks. His teammates backed him with 10 hits, including three more by Hunter and two by both Gantenbein and Carl Mason.
Winterstein walked and later scored on Gantenbein's infield hit in the first, and the Bruins added two more in the second, Winterstein's sacrifice fly plating Mason and Hunter's single scoring Nate Hickok. Gantenbein doubled and scored on Mason's single in the third, and Stahl singled in Winterstein in the fourth to close out the George Fox scoring.
Joshua Walker hit a two-run home run on a pitch up and out of the strike zone in the seventh for the Warriors' only two runs. Former Bruin Trevor Winsor (0-1) started and took the loss for Corban.
NEXT: George Fox (6-0) concludes play in the tournament Sunday at 11:00 a.m., taking on Concordia University-Portland.
The revised tournament schedule for Sunday:
Field 1-Varsity Field
11:00 am - Concordia vs GFU
2:00 pm - Concordia vs PLU
Field 2-JV Field
11:00 am - Oregon Tech vs PLU
2:00 pm - Corban vs Pacific