NEWBERG, Ore. – Behind steady offense in the first game and solid pitching in the second, the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins swept the visiting Whitman College Missionaries 9-3 and 2-1 in a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon here at Morse Field.
The Bruins (17-5, 7-4 NWC), ranked No. 20 in the D3baseball.com poll and No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, found the correct side of win column after three losses last weekend to Willamette by rebounding strong and claiming both contests of the twinbill over the Missionaries (10-13, 1-10 NWC).
The Bruins, who are in third place in the league standings, remained three games back of front-running Linfield College (17-3, NWC 10-1), which swept a pair from Whitworth University 4-2 and 2-1. They gained a game-and-a-half on second-place Pacific Lutheran University (12-6, NWC 7-2), which lost the first game of a doubleheader to the University of Puget Sound 2-0 in 11 innings and was trailing the second 13-6 in the eighth inning when it was suspended by darkness.
Game 1 – at George Fox 9, Whitman 3
In the opener, George Fox got around the diamond quickly as Josh Rapacz hit an RBI single in the Bruins' third at-bat of the opening inning, and then his brother, Zach Rapacz, connected for a two-run double to put the Bruins up 3-0. After a pair of scoreless frames, the Bruins equaled their first-inning tally in the fourth as Derek Blankenship singled Kadyn Nannini home and Derek Dixon pulled off a two-run single, making the scoreboard read 6-0 Bruins.
The Missionaries managed to score one run in the top of the fifth, but the Bruins matched that in the bottom of the inning on Nannini's RBI single. The Bruins added a pair in the seventh with Matthew Zeller and Zach Hegelmeyer both singling in runners. Whitman pulled two back in the ninth, but it wasn't enough as the Bruins' Sam Morland struck out two in the inning.
George Fox outhit Whitman 15-8 as Zeller led the Bruins with three hits. Blankenship, Nannini, Zach Rapacz and Clay Mott all added two hits.
On the mound, Clay Gartner (6-1) earned the win, allowing only one earned run in eight innings of work. Dakota Matherly (1-2) took the loss in 3.2 innings and allowed six earned runs.
Game 2 – at George Fox 2, Whitman 1
The second half of the doubleheader was a pitchers' duel as both starters, Ian Buckles for George Fox and Brett Lambert for Whitman, kept the game scoreless through six and a half innings. The Bruins finally wore down Lambert in the bottom of the seventh when Mott scored the game's first run via a balk.
Whitman responded at their next chance and Aaron Cohen hit an RBI-single to even the game. Nothing happened in the bottom of the eighth or the top of the ninth as neither team could get a man on. In the bottom of the ninth, however, the Bruins loaded the bases and Blankenship put one out of a diving Kyle Buckham's reach in right field to drive in Zac Israel for the winning run.
George Fox had the edge again in hits, this time 10-7. Israel and Nannini both had a pair of hits to lead the Bruins, while Cohen got three for the Missionaries. Cohen and Dixon were the only hitters to connect for extra bases as each had a double.
Buckles pitched 7.1 innings, allowing just a single run while striking out 10. Sean Eberhardt (2-1) earned the win in 1.2 relief innings. Connor Harris also saw time at the strip, facing one batter.
Lambert also struck out 10 while going seven innings, but Sterling Spilinek (2-2) was hit with the loss with one inning pitched. Nick Johnson finished the game on the mound for the Missionaries and pitched a third of an inning.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Whitman for the third and final game of the series on Sunday at 12 p.m.