by Jared Beilby, Student Intern
SALEM, Ore. – Senior Derek Dixon homered twice and had five hits on the day, but it was not enough for the 17th-ranked George Fox University Bruins as the Willamette University Bearcats swept a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader by scores of 8-2 and 11-9 here at John Lewis Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins dropped only their second and third conference games and now sit at 15-4 overall and 5-3 in the league. The Bearcats improved to 9-8 and 3-4 in conference play.
Game 1 – at Willamette 8, George Fox 2
In the first game, Dixon hit an RBI double that put the Bruins up 1-0 in the top of the first. However, Willamette managed to put two on the board in each of their next two innings to build a 4-1 lead. In the fifth, Bearcat junior Tiras Koon hit an RBI double and junior Brad Beier drove in a run with a single. Koon then scored on a throwing error to put the Bearcats up 8-1.
George Fox got a run back in the seventh as junior Zach Rapacz hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in his brother, senior Josh Rapacz, for the final score.
Senior Clay Gartner (5-1) had his first loss of the season in 4.1 innings of work. Sophomore Tyler Olson (1-1) scored the win.
Game 2 – at Willamette 11, George Fox 9
The next game also began with a George Fox score as Zach Rapacz hit an RBI single to right field. Both teams put up two in the second, making the score 3-2, before Willamette tied it with one in the third and then went up one with a lone run in the fourth.
The Bruins fought back to tie in the fifth as Dixon connected for a solo left-field home run. Willamette responded in the sixth as senior Brandon Chin hit a two-run single and junior Hunter Gallant hit a run-scoring infield single to put the Bearcats up 7-4. The Bruin bats fought back again as senior Danny Clifford sent a shot over the wall to drive junior Derek Blankenship in and cut the score to one.
Willamette had another three-run inning in the bottom of the seventh as Breier hit a two-run single and sophomore Shea Harrison added a one-run single. George Fox was not done just yet, however, as senior Zac Israel scored on a wild pitch in the top of eighth before Koon snuck an RBI double in on the flipside of the inning, making the score 11-7 Bearcats. Dixon had his second homer of the game in the ninth, this time a two-run left field shot, but the Bruin rally fell just shy as no one else found home.
Dixon and Zach Rapacz had three hits in the second game while Blankenship had a pair of safeties. Koons went 4-5 for Willamette.
Junior Ian Buckles started the game for George Fox and went 4.1 innings on the mound, while junior Sean Eberhardt (1-1) pitched two innings in relief and was stuck with the loss. Freshman Nathan Higa went the 1.2 final innings and struck out two of the eight batters he faced. Freshman Matt Jepsen (3-3) earned the win with 6.2 innings pitched for the Bearcats.
The teams' three-game series finishes up Sunday at 12 p.m. as Willamette again hosts George Fox.