NEWBERG, Ore. – Timothy Williams' three-run 1st-inning double sparked George Fox University to a 10-5 win over Pacific Lutheran University in the opener of a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader, but the Bruins allowed six unearned runs and stranded 14 runners in dropping the nightcap to the Lutes 6-5 Saturday afternoon here at Morse Field.
George Fox is now 23-9 overall and 16-4 in the conference, while Pacific Lutheran is 18-12 and 8-9 in the league. With the split, the Bruins, who are ranked 17th in the D3baseball.com poll and 19th in the ABCA / Collegiate Baseball poll, remain tied atop the conference standings with the Linfield College Wildcats, who are playing four non-conference games in southern California this weekend. Linfield is 15-3 in the NWC.
Game 1 - George Fox 10, Pacific Lutheran 5
In the first game, the Bruins jumped on pro prospect Max Beatty (5-4) in the 1st and never looked back. Josh Rapacz and Danny Clifford lined two-out singles and Derek Dixon reached first safely on a wild pitch on his third-strike swing and miss to load the bases. Williams unloaded them with his liner to the fence in dead center field, the first of his three doubles on the day.
The Bruins scored in six of the eight innings in which they came to bat, piling up 13 hits in the game, including nine off Beatty in his five innings of work. They got one run in the 2nd on Zach Miller's sacrifice fly to score Jared Chase, who had doubled and advanced on a sacrifice by Matthew Zeller. In the 5th, Beatty's final frame, Rapacz singled, moved up on a sacrifice by Clifford, and scored on Dixon's single. Williams doubled in Dixon.
In the 6th, Rapacz doubled in Chase, who had reached on a throwing error at short. Chase hit a sacrifice fly to score Williams and Zeller doubled in Zac Israel for a pair of runs in the 7th. The Bruins closed out their scoring in the 8th when Dixon singled in Ian Skiles, who was pinch-running for Rapacz.
Clay Gartner (7-0) threw his fourth complete game for the Bruins, scattering eight hits while striking out nine with no walks. He surrendered an unearned run in the 2nd, then was touched for an RBI single by Andrew Oord, a two-run double by Clay Trushinsky, and a run-scoring single by Carson McCord in the 9th, but struck out the side in the inning to nail down the win.
Rapacz led the George Fox offense with a 4-for-4 game, while Zeller, Dixon, and Williams had two hits apiece. Williams knocked in four runs. Oord had three hits and Trushinsky two for the Lutes, with Trushinsky driving in three on two doubles.
Game 2 - Pacific Lutheran 6, George Fox 5
PLU righty Collin Nilson (2-2) was in trouble throughout his 6.1 innings of work in the second game, surrendering 12 hits while walking four, but the Bruins never got to him for a critical hit that could have blown the game open. He survived long enough to get the win, with 2.2 innings of two-hit shutout help from A.J. Konopaski, who fanned three and picked up his fourth save.
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the 1st when Clifford scorched one on the ground toward left on which Hall made a diving stop at short to get a force at second as Miller scored from third. The Lutes took their first lead of the day in the top of the 2nd, however, a two-out error at short on Jacob Olsufka's grounder opening the door against southpaw Connor Harris. Chris Bishop and Hall followed with singles to score Olsufka, and Trushinsky singled in the go-ahead run.
The Bruins scored single runs in each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings to go up 4-2. In the 2nd, Williams doubled and Israel smashed a single off the glove of a diving Olsufka at second to tie the game. They went ahead in the 3rd on a double by Clifford, an infield single by Dixon, and a hit to left by Williams, but left the bases loaded after filling them with only one out. In the 4th, Zeller was hit by a pitch, advanced on a sacrifice and a ground out, and scored on a Clifford single.
The Lutes pinned the loss on reliever Ian Buckles (2-1), who went four innings with three strikeouts, with four in the 6th. With two out, Olsufka and Bishop singled, and Hall reached on an error at third to fill the sacks. Trushinsky drew a walk to force in a run, Curtis Wildung put the Lutes ahead with a two-run single up the middle, and Oord singled in the fourth run.
The Bruins got one back in the 7th. Israel singled with one out, advanced on a wild pitch, and after Zach Hegelmeyer walked, Konopaski came in and gave up an RBI single to Chase. He retired the next two batters on a fly out and a strikeout. In the 8th, the Bruins got Rapacz and Dixon aboard with singles but stranded them in scoring position, and went down 1-2-3 in the 9th.
The Bruins out-hit the Lutes 14-13, led by Clifford and Dixon with three hits apiece. Rapacz, who boosted his season average to .524, Williams and Israel had two hits each. Oord collected four hits to lead the Lutes, while Hall, Wildung, Olsufka and Bishop each had two safeties.
NEXT: The Bruins and Lutes conclude their three-game series Sunday at 12:00 noon. As it will be the final weekend home game for the Bruins, the team's nine graduating seniors will be recognized in pre-game ceremonies: Chase, Williams, Miller, Spencer Eager, Daniel Kephart, Alex Keenan, Emmett Ackerlund, Eric Kittelson, and Kyle Kirwan.