Baseball: George Fox 4-7, Pacific Lutheran 3-9

Bruins and Lutes Swap Conference Comeback Wins.

Salem-News.com Sports

NEWBERG, Ore. - Taking turns stealing victories from each other, the George Fox University Bruins won the first game of a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader 4-3 on Matt Wyckoff’s walk-off three-run homer in the last of the 7th before the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes scored eight times in the last three innings for a 9-7 second-game win Monday afternoon here at Morse Field.

The opening game began as a pitching duel between last week’s Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week, right-hander Trey Watt of PLU, and 2008 First Team All-Conference righty Mark Putney, who was making his second start of the year after recovering from a sore arm.

Putney shut out the Lutes through five innings on only two hits with three strikeouts and no walks, while Watt struck out four and allowed no hits into the 4th inning.

Bo Thunell doubled with one out for the Bruins’ first hit in the 4th and Dan Winterstein singled to right with two out to score him with the first run of the game.

The Bruins had Watt on the ropes again in the 5th, loading the bases with none out on a single by Brent Trask, a throwing error by Watt on Taylor Hunter’s tapper to the right of the mound, and a bunt single by Kyle Kuenzi, but came away empty-handed as Wyckoff and Thunell hit into force outs at the plate and Pat Bailey struck out.

That escape gave the Lutes new life, and they responded with three runs in the top of the 6th. Ben Shively and Josh Takayoshi hit singles to end Putney’s day, and Wyckoff came in from left to try to hold things down.

After Corey Moore struck out on a third-strike foul bunt, Jordan Post walked and Ryan Aratani was hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying run. Geoff Gabler then doubled inside the bag at third for two runs.

Watt carried that 3-1 lead into the 7th and final inning, but walked Hunter and surrendered a sharp single up the middle to Kuenzi to start the frame. On an 0-1 pitch, Wyckoff then drilled his sixth home run of the year down the right-field line and onto the roof of the softball field dugout for the 4-3 GFU win.

Wyckoff (2-0) earned himself the victory with his game-winning smash, while Watt (4-2) suffered the sudden setback, allowing eight hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Kuenzi had two hits for the Bruins, with Gabler and Shively getting two hits each for the Lutes.

In the nightcap, the Lutes got a run in the top of the 1st on a Takayoshi double and an RBI single by Post, but the Bruins tagged PLU starter Paul DiPietro for two runs each in the 1st and 2nd innings and three off reliever Nathan Eisenhauer in the 3rd to build a 7-1 lead. Winterstein had a sacrifice fly and Cody Curtin an RBI single in the 2nd, Wyckoff and Thunell hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the 2nd, and Kuenzi hit an RBI single and Wyckoff a two-run double in the 3rd.

George Fox right-hander Jeremy Cheney, making his first start after 6.1 relief innings in four appearances, settled down after the opening inning and shut out the Lutes over the next three frames before turning it over to the bullpen with a chance for his first college win. Instead, the Lutes rallied while southpaw Bret Handy (1-1) stymied the Bruin bats over three innings, allowing only one hit and a walk with one strikeout.

The Lutes scored two in the 5th off reliever Kyle Johnson, Post singling in Shively and Takayoshi scoring on Aratani’s force out grounder at second. The second run was unearned due to Johnson’s low throw to second on a potential double-play bouncer to the mound by Sam Beatty earlier in the inning.

Chad Jones (3-1), the Bruins’ usually reliable closer who was leading the league in ERA, got out of trouble with a strikeout to end the 5th, but was roughed up for three runs in the 6th. A walk to Corey Moore and singles by Sammy Davis and Shively loaded the bases, Aratani delivered a two-run double to right, and a Kirk Hansen ground out to second scored Shively as the Lutes closed within 7-6.

Moore started the Lutes’ go-ahead rally in the 7th with a one-out single to right. Davis then hit a sharp grounder to the right of Hunter at second, who made a diving stop but threw the ball into left trying for the force at second, sending the runners to third and second. Wyckoff again relieved but hit Matt Akridge to load the bases, and the tying run scored on Carl Benton’s grounder toward the left-side hole on which Bailey made a fine play at third to throw him out. Takayoshi followed with his fourth hit of the game, a line single to right just off the glove of a leaping Hunter that plated Davis and pinch-runner Matt Wolford.

Ryan Frost, making only his third appearance of the season on the hill, picked up his first save with a quick 1-2-3 inning on two ground balls and a called third strike.

In addition to four hits by Takayoshi, who scored twice and drove in four, Post, Moore and Shively had two hits apiece in the Lutes’ 13-hit assault. Wyckoff had three hits for the Bruins, with two doubles, two runs and three RBIs.

With a split in the four-game series, George Fox is now 17-6 overall and 12-2 in the conference, while Pacific Lutheran is 18-7 overall and 14-4 in the league. The two remain locked in a three-way battle for the NWC lead with Linfield College, which is 20-3 overall and 14-2 in the conference.

George Fox is scheduled to try to play a makeup game, possibly two, with Willamette University in Salem, Ore., on Wednesday, but no time on that has been confirmed. If not, the Bruins will go to Whitworth University for 12:00 noon doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday. Pacific Lutheran is off until April 10-11, when the Lutes will host Whitworth in twinbills each day, also at noon.

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