TACOMA, Wash. – Returning to the lineup after two weeks out with a concussion, Josh Rapacz went 4-5 with a home run and four RBIs, leading the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins to an 8-4 win over the University of Puget Sound Loggers in the first game of a Northwest Conference baseball twinbill Saturday afternoon here at Logger Field.
The second game of the doubleheader was suspended by darkness after nine complete innings, with the scored knotted 4-4. The game will be resumed where it left off Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., to be followed by the third and final game of the series.
Game 1 - George Fox 8, Puget Sound 4
Rapacz led an 11-hit attack that pinned the loss on UPS right-hander Matt Robinson (5-4), who entered the game with a 1.29 ERA on the season, and gave George Fox ace Clay Gartner his sixth win against no defeats, though he needed relief assistance from Ian Buckles, who earned his first save.
The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st with a couple of unearned runs. Zach Miller reached on a one-out error at third, Derek Dixon singled, and Rapacz singled to drive in the first run. After a wild pitch, Danny Clifford singled in Dixon.
Two runs came across in the top of the 2nd. Zach Hegelmeyer singled, moved up on a wild pitch and a stolen base, and scored when Jared Chase reached on an error at third. Miller was hit by a pitch, Dixon walked, and Rapacz singled in Chase, but Miller was thrown out at home by right fielder Lucs Stone to prevent further damage.
Single runs in the 5th and 6th made it 6-0. Rapacz slammed his second home run of the season to left-center in the 5th, and Hegelmeyer squeezed in Timothy Williams, who had doubled and advanced to third on a hit by Zac Israel, in the 6th.
Gartner took a two-hitter into the last of the 6th but then ran into trouble. Connor Savage singled with one out and Stone doubled him home for the first UPS run. Christian Carter walked, and after a force out at third and a wild pitch, Nathan Backes and Jeff Walton drew back-to-back free passes to force in another run. Buckles relieved at that point and allowed one more run to score due to an error at third, but got the final out on a foul to first.
The Loggers cut it to 6-4 in the 7th as Savage singled, was balked to second, and scored on a single by Carter, but Buckles retired the final seven batters in a row to end the game. The Bruins added two more insurance runs in the 8th on a sacrifice fly by Miller and a third RBI single by Rapacz.
Gartner went 5.2 innings, spacing four hits with eight strikeouts and four walks. Buckles finished up with 3.1 innings of two-hit relief, fanning two with no walks. Robinson got the loss while going six innings, allowing eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
In addition to the big game by Rapacz, Clifford had a pair of hits for the Bruins. Savage had half of the Loggers' six hits.
Game 2 - George Fox 4, Puget Sound 4 (suspended)
The Bruins battled back from a 4-0 deficit after two innings to tie it, and sent it into extra innings when Williams gunned down Eric Lund, the potential winning run, at the plate on Bobby Hosmer's single to right with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.
George Fox southpaw Connor Harris suffered his worst start of the season as the Loggers touched him for four hits and four runs in 1.1 innings. Hosmer doubled in two and Walton had an RBI single in a three-run 1st, and Stone singled in a run in the 2nd before Eric Kittelson relieved and shut out the Loggers over the next 6.1 innings, scattering six hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
The Bruins started their comeback against the Loggers' Steve Wagar in the 4th. Miller led off with a triple and scored on a single by Rapacz for the Bruins' first run, and after Clifford was hit by a pitch, Kadyn Nannini singled up the middle to score Rapacz.
In the 7th, Hegelmeyer singled to lead off, went to second when Israel's sacrifice was mishandled at third for an error, and both runners moved up on a sacrifice by Chase. Miller's sacrifice fly to left made it 4-3. The Bruins tied it in the 8th when Rapacz led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by Clifford, and scored on Williams' single through the left side.
The Loggers made a bid to win it in the 9th against Sean Eberhardt when Carter led off with a single and pinch-runner Lund was sacrificed to second by Kaulana Smith. After Backes flied to center, Hosmer singled sharply to right, but Williams, with one of the strongest arms in the league, nailed Lund easily at the plate to extend play to Sunday.
George Fox, which is ranked 14th in the ABCA / Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III poll and 17th by D3baseball.com, is now 20-8 overall and 13-3 in the conference. Puget Sound is 11-16 overall and 6-7 in the league.