SPOKANE, Wash. – Tom Zarosinksi threw eight shutout innings and the 23rd-ranked George Fox University Bruins reached 20 wins for the 19th consecutive season with a 5-0 win over the Whitworth University Pirates, completing a three-game Northwest Conference baseball series sweep Sunday afternoon here at Merkel Field.
George Fox improved to 20-6 on the season and 10-5 in the conference, while Whitworth fell to 6-17 overall and 3-9 in league play. The Pirates have lost nine in a row.
Zarosinski (5-2) scattered six hits while striking out seven with a pair of walks and lowering his season earned run average to 1.59. He was in serious trouble only once, when the Pirates loaded the bases in the 3rd inning on a bunt single and two walks, but he caught Jeremy Druffel looking to get out of the jam. Sean Eberhardt pitched a scoreless 9th to complete the Bruins' sixth shutout of the year.
The Bruins broke on top in the 3rd. Clay Mott walked, Matthew Zeller was hit by a pitch, and Mott scored when Derek Blankenship's potential double play grounder was thrown away at second. Danny Clifford and Josh Rapacz followed with back-to-back singles to score Blankenship.
Two more runs scored in the 4th when Kadyn Nannini lined a double to left to score Zach Rapacz and Mott. The Bruins' final run came in the 5th when Clifford, who was 8-for-13 in the series, doubled and scored on a Zach Rapacz single to center.
Spencer Ansett (1-2) took the loss for the Pirates, surrendering six hits and all five runs while fanning three and walking two. Taylor Isadore shut out the Bruins over five innings on four hits, but the damage had already been done.
Clifford, Josh Rapacz, and Nannini all had two hits out of the Bruins' total of 10. Garrett Hughes and Gerhard Muelheims had two safeties each for the Pirates.
NEXT: George Fox hosts the University of Puget Sound next weekend with a conference doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday, starting both days at 12:00 noon … Whitworth visits Lewis & Clark College for a conference series with two on Saturday and one on Sunday, also at noon.