WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Scoring the tying run on a passed ball with two out in the 9th inning, George Fox University took advantage of that gift to score twice in the 10th for a 3-1 second-game win that gave the Bruins a split of their Northwest Conference baseball twinbill with the Whitman College Missionaries Saturday afternoon here at Borleske Stadium.
In the opener, Derek Dixon gave the visitors a 2-1 lead with a solo home run, his second of the season, in the top of the 9th inning, only to have the Missionaries rally in the bottom of the inning with two runs off closer Alex Keenan (0-2) to stun the Bruins 3-2.
With the split, George Fox, ranked No. 8 in the latest ABCA/Collegiate Baseball poll, is now 16-6 overall and fell into second place in the conference at 9-2, a game behind Linfield College, which swept at Whitworth University 5-2 and 14-2. Whitman is now 8-12 overall and 3-8 in the NWC.
Game 1 - Whitman 3, George Fox 2
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning of the opener when Matthew Zeller led off the game with a single to short and reached second on a throwing error on the play, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on Zach Miller's sacrifice fly to left. Whitman hurlers Dakota Matherly and Robert Maislin (1-2) then held the Bruins scoreless over the next seven innings until Dixon took Maislin deep to left-center with one out in the 9th.
George Fox ace Clay Gartner retired the first nine batters he faced before hitting Kyle Buckham to start the 4th. A potential double-play grounder to short was booted, and Kyle Moyes made the Bruins pay for it with a ground single to left that scored Buckham with the tying run.
Gartner went eight innings, allowing only four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks, before Keenan came in and struck out the first batter he faced in the 9th. Aaron Cohen started the winning rally with a single to left and Moyes beat out an infield single to deep short. Cameron Young moved the runners up with a grounder to second, and Peter Valentine singled off Keenan's leg to score pinch-runner Chris Andrews with the tying run. Jimmy Madden then singled up the middle as Moyes scored the winning run.
Matherly went seven innings, spacing four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk, while Maislin gave up only one hit with two strikeouts and no walks. Valentine led the Missionaries with three hits, while Cohen and Moyes had two each. No Bruin had multiple hits out of their five in all.
Game 2 - George Fox 3, Whitman 1 (10 innings)
In the nightcap, Whitman scored an unearned run in the 5th inning and it appeared that was all they would need to complete a sweep as southpaw Spencer Hobson threw 7.2 innings of five-hit shutout ball, striking out seven and walking three.
The Missionaries broke up a scoreless duel between Hobson and Bruin lefty Connor Harris as Madden drew a lead-off walk and went all the way to third when Harris threw away Eli Mathieu's attempted sacrifice back to the mound. Peter Carmichael laid down a successful safety squeeze to get the run home. Ian Buckles replaced Harris later in the inning and kept the game a one-run affair with 3.2 innings of one-hit relief, fanning three with no walks.
Brett Lambert (1-3) took over for Hobson in the 8th with two runners aboard and stranded them there to keep it 1-0, but ran into trouble in the 9th. Dixon lined a single to left to start the frame and went to second on Ian Skiles' sacrifice. Zach Hegelmeyer lined to left for the second out, but Lambert balked Dixon to third. Pinch-hitter Kadyn Nannini drew a walk, and on the fourth ball, the pitch eluded catcher Cohen for a passed ball, allowing Dixon to score the tying run on a close play at the plate.
The Missionaries had a chance to win in the bottom of the 9th as they loaded the bases with one out but could not cash in. After a one-out error at short and a single by Madden, Eric Kittelson replaced Buckles and walked Mathieu to fill the sacks. Carmichael struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch, and Sean Eberhardt (1-0) came in to get Buckham on a fly to right, sending it to extra innings.
Miller opened the George Fox 10th with a single to left and reached second when Lambert threw Taylor Johnson's bunt into center. Danny Clifford's bunt single filled the bases, and Miller scored the tie-breaking run on another passed ball. Dixon singled off reliever Will Thompson to plate Johnson with a big insurance run, as Eberhardt walked Moyes with two out in the bottom of the inning but struck out Young to give the Bruins the split.
The Bruins had nine hits, three by Dixon and Clifford with a pair. No Missionaries had more than one hit, as they had only four in all.
NEXT: The Bruins and Missionaries conclude their three-game series Sunday with a single game here at 12:00 noon.