NEWBERG, Ore. – Timothy Williams singled in Josh Rapacz with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping a bizarre six-run rally that lifted the George Fox University Bruins past the stunned Lewis & Clark College Pioneers for a sweep of their Northwest Conference baseball series Sunday afternoon here at Morse Field.
Trailing 8-3 entering their final at bat, the Bruins benefitted from a Lewis & Clark bullpen that could not find the strike zone. Pioneer reliever E.J. Hand, who had retired the Bruins 1-2-3 in the eighth, walked Williams and hit Zac Israel with a pitch to start the ninth and was replaced by Kyle Tibbett. Zach Hegelmeyer walked and Tibbett balked in the first run of the inning, then walked Jared Chase and hit Matthew Zeller to force in a second run.
Alex Heimbrodt (0-1), the eventual loser, came in and surrendered a two-run single to Zach Miller, making it an 8-7 game. With Rapacz, the Bruins' hottest hitter who was 9-for-13 in the series, at the plate, Zeller and Miller surprised everyone by working a double steal. The Pios elected to walk Rapacz intentionally to refill the bases, but that idea backfired when new pitcher Aaron Landecker unintentionally passed Danny Clifford to force in the tying run. Derek Dixon hit into a 5-2 force at home for the first out, but Williams, up for the second time, lined Landecker's second pitch cleanly into left as Rapacz scored the winning run.
The game began as a pitchers' duel between right-handers Tom Zarosinski for George Fox and Ryan Strombom for Lewis & Clark. Both went seven innings, Zarosinski allowing seven hits and two runs, one earned, with seven strikeouts and a walk, while Strombom stymied the Bruins, hitting .332 coming in, on only four hits and three runs, with five strikeouts and three walks.
The Pios scored in the first when Bradley Lezak struck out but reached first on a wild pitch, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on Mike Kinkenon's single to right. The other Pioneer run came in the sixth as Kinkenon walked, took second on another passed ball, and scored on Andrew Traver's double down the left-field line.
The Bruins got all their runs off Strombom in the one inning in which his control deserted him, the fourth. Rapacz singled, Clifford walked, and after a 5-4 force, Williams was hit by a pitch to fill the bases. Israel and Hegelmeyer drew back-to-back walks to force in the tying and go-ahead runs, and Williams scored on a wild pitch as the Bruins took a 3-1 lead.
Down 3-2, the Pios exploded in the eighth against the Bruin bullpen. Sean Eberhardt surrendered a double to right-center by Traver and a misjudged double to right by Eric Hyun to tie the game, and Corey Davis singled sharply to right to put the Pios ahead 4-3. Spencer Eager relieved and threw a wild pitch, then got a fielder's choice out at third on a bunt attempt by John Trupin, but Christian MacDonald doubled, bringing in George Fox closer Alex Keenan. Lezak fanned but reached first again on a wild pitch as pinch-runner Jake Costantino scored. Geoff Werth singled in MacDonald, and Kinkeno singled to center to plate Lezak.
Lewis & Clark added an unearned run in the ninth off Eric Kittelson as Costantino beat out an infield hit with two out, stole second and went to third when the throw was mishandled behind the bag, and scored on MacDonald's infield single to deep short. That gave the Pios a commanding five-run lead heading into the ninth as they sought their first win of the season, but it was not to be.
The Bruins, who had piled up 33 hits in sweeping the Pios 21-3 and 12-3 on Saturday, managed only six hits Sunday, Rapacz going 2-for-4. Lewis & Clark, hitting only .215 before the game, banged out 15 hits, led by Kinkenon's 3-for-4 day. Lezak, Traver, Hyun, Davis and MacDonald all had two hits apiece.
NEXT: George Fox (10-4, NWC 3-0) visits Pacific University for a three-game conference series next weekend, starting with a doubleheader Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ... Lewis & Clark (0-10, NWC 0-3) goes to the Tucson Invitational in Arizona, opening with Iowa Wesleyan College on Friday at 10:00 a.m.