NEWBERG, Ore. – Connor Harris polished off a four-hit shutout of a suspended game and Danny Clifford slugged a tie-breaking three-run home run in the series finale as the George Fox University Bruins completed a Northwest Conference baseball sweep of the Willamette University Bearcats 6-0 and 8-4 Sunday afternoon here at Morse Field.
With the sweep, George Fox improved to 15-5 overall and 8-1 in the conference, while Willamette slipped to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in the league. The Bruins are now tied for first in the NWC with Linfield College, which took three straight at home from Whitman College over the weekend. Former leader and defending NWC champion Whitworth University dropped two of three at Pacific Lutheran University, so George Fox and Linfield sit atop the conference now at 8-1, followed by Whitworth at 4-2 and PLU at 6-3.
Game 1 - George Fox 6, Willamette 0
After the Bruins took Saturday's series opener 12-5, the second game of a scheduled doubleheader was suspended by rain after an inning-and-a-half with George Fox holding a 3-0 lead. Harris, who had thrown 20 pitches in the first two innings on Saturday, was sent back out on Sunday to go as far as he could - and the southpaw was brilliant in finishing what he had started. He had a no-hitter until one out in the 5th, allowed only four hits in all, struck out three with one walk, and needed only 84 pitches in nine innings as he raised his record to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.95.
On Saturday, the Bruins scored three in the 1st inning off Albert Garcia (1-3) on a two-run double by Timothy Williams and a sacrifice fly by Derek Dixon. They added another run in Garcia's only inning of work on Sunday when Matthew Zeller was hit by a pitch, Zach Miller walked, and Josh Rapacz lined a single up the middle to score Zeller in the 2nd.
The Bruins tacked on two more runs in the 5th against reliever Peter Davis. Rapacz was hit by a pitch, Clifford singled up the middle, and Williams doubled to right to score Rapacz. Clifford was trapped off third on the play and tagged out, but Derek Dixon doubled to left to score Williams.
Zeller and Zach Hegelmeyer led a 15-hit George Fox attack by going 3-for-4 each. Rapacz, Williams, and Dixon had two hits apiece, with Williams doubling twice and driving in three.
Game 2 - George Fox 8, Willamette 4
In the finale, George Fox middle man Eric Kittelson (3-1) threw five innings of three-hit shutout relief with one strikeout and no walks, giving the Bruins time to bang out 17 hits and rally from an early three-run deficit.
The Bearcats took their only lead of the series in the 3rd when Bruin starter Tom Zarosinski issued walks to Tyson Giza and Tosh Semlacher and Hunter Gallant doubled down the left-field line to drive in Giza. Brad Breier then singled down the line to score Semlacher and Gallant for a 3-0 lead.
The Bruins got one run back in the home half on a double to left by Zach Miller and an RBI single to center by Clifford off of Bearcat starter Brandon Simon, who struck out six over five innings but eventually surrendered eight hits and three walks. A two-run 4th tied it, starting with back-to-back doubles by Dixon and Emmett Ackerlund. Zac Israel sacrificed Ackerlund to third, and the runner broke for home on contact on Hegelmeyer's slow grounder to third. Gallant charged the ball with the apparent intent to throw home, but slipped before he could make a play at the plate and had to settle for an out at first as Ackerlund scored the tying run.
Left-hander Henry Harrison (0-1) took over for Simon in the 6th and, after a strikeout of the first batter he faced, surrendered singles to Miller and Rapacz before Clifford launched his second home run of the season to left for a 6-3 George Fox lead. Williams singled, Dixon doubled him to third, and after Parker Johnson relieved, Jared Chase greeted him with a sharp single against a drawn-in infield off the glove of Austin Hagarty at second, driving in both runners to cap a five-run outburst.
Willamette picked up its final run in the 9th against Alex Keenan. Corbin Bennett reached on an infield single and went to second on a ground out to first. Giza's sharp grounder to short hit Bennett, resulting in the runner being out and Giza getting credit for a hit. After stealing second, Giza scored on a Matt Hirsch single to right.
Dixon went 4-for-5 with two more doubles, Miller was 3-for-5 with two doubles, Clifford was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, and Williams was 2-for-5. Five Bearcats - Giza, Hirsch, Gallant, Ben Petersen and Bennett - had two hits each.
NEXT: George Fox steps outside the conference Tuesday, hosting Concordia University-Portland at 3:00 p.m. ... After opening the season against conference powers Pacific Lutheran, Linfield, and George Fox, Willamette welcomes cellar-dwelling Lewis & Clark College for a three-game set next weekend, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00 noon.