NEWBERG, Ore. – A pitchers' duel in the first game went to the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes 2-1 before the George Fox University Bruins bounced back to win the second-game offensive battle 10-7, earning a split of their Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader Sunday afternoon here at Morse Field.
The Bruins, ranked 24th in the latest D3baseball.com national poll, took the series two games to one after winning Saturday 4-3, improving to 11-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. The Lutes fell to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in league play. The two teams are expected to be serious contenders in the NWC race this season, George Fox having been picked third in the pre-season poll and PLU second behind Linfield College.
In Sunday's opener, PLU right-hander Scott Wall (2-0) out-dueled George Fox freshman righty Clay Gartner (1-1). Wall went the distance, scattering six hits with only one unearned run and nine strikeouts without a walk. Gartner went 7.2 innings, allowing eight hits and two runs with three strikeouts and two walks, before Andrew Snyder threw the final 1.1 innings of one-hit shutout relief.
PLU took a 1-0 lead in the second when Dan Johansen unloaded on Gartner's first pitch of the inning with a line shot down the left-field line for his first home run of the season. The Lutes added another run in the third as Jacob Hoffman beat out a two-out grounder behind the third-base bag, moved up on a walk to Zack Halverson, and scored on Jaron Iwakami's single to right.
The Bruins picked up their only run in the eighth. Dan Winterstein singled to right with two out and took second when the ball was over-run, then scored when Taylor Hunter's grounder to deep short was bounced into the PLU dugout.
George Fox threatened again in the ninth as Zac Israel doubled with two out and Todd Nagamine drove a long fly to deep right-center, but right fielder Iwakami made a fine running catch to preserve the win.
In the nightcap, both starting pitchers had control issues. PLU's Nathan Eisenhauer struck out three in 2.0-plus innings, but allowed three hits, walked six, and threw two wild pitches. Brian Davis of George Fox also went 2.0-plus innings and fanned three, but gave up three hits, hit three batters, and threw a wild pitch. After three innings that took an hour and 20 minutes play, the Lutes held a 6-5 lead, having scored three in both the second and third innings while the Bruins got two in the first and three in the third.
PLU made it 7-5 in the sixth when Johansen singled in Jacob Olsufka, but the Bruins rallied to take the lead in the home half against reliever Ryan Frost (0-1). Nagamine singled to right, Nate Hickok was hit by a pitch, and Winterstein singled off Frost's glove to load the bases with one out. Hunter's double down the left-field line tied the score, and Sam Stahl delivered two more runs with a double to the same spot.
The Lutes threatened in the eighth against reliever Snyder as Nicholas Hall singled and Olsufka was hit by a pitch with one out. Jacob Brown replaced Snyder and got a ground out to second that put the tying runs in scoring position, then struck out cleanup hitter Johansen to escape the danger. After the Bruins tacked on an unearned run in the last of the eighth, Brown gave up two hits in the ninth but got a big 4-6-3 double play to help him earn his second save of the season.
Kyle Albertson (2-1), the second of four George Fox hurlers, worked four innings and got the win with the Bruins' big rally in the sixth.
Winterstein had three hits for the Bruins, while Stahl and Nagamine had two apiece. Corey Moore collected three hits for the Lutes, with Iwakami, Ryan Aratani, Brock Gates, and Hall getting two each.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Corban University Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in a non-conference game ... Pacific Lutheran visits NCAA Division I Seattle University Saturday for a single game at 12:00 noon.