4/12/2008 – GEORGE FOX 13-10, WHITMAN 1-2: Bruins Stretch Win Streak to 8 with Sweep of Missionaries
Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Building up big leads in the early innings of both games, the George Fox University Bruins stretched their winning streak to eight in a row with a 13-1, 10-2 sweep of the Whitman College Missionaries in a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon here at Borleske Stadium.
The Bruins scored two runs in the 1st inning of the opener on a double play grounder and an RBI single by Dn Winterstein, then exploded for five runs in the 2nd. Pat Bailey hit a two-run double and Matt Wyckoff, who had two doubles in the game, drove in another with his first two-base hit in the frame. Kyle Seymour had a run-scoring single in the 5th, and the Bruins had another five-run outburst in the 7th, taking advantage of four walks and two Whitman errors along with two hits of their own.
The Bruins' 12-hit attack enabled Nick Bratney (3-2) and Kyle Johnson to cruise on the mound. Bratney worked six shutout innings, scattering four hits with four strikeouts and two walks, and Johnson went the final three to earn his first save of the season, allowing four hits and a run. Joe Rodhouse (0-5), the first of three Missionary pitchers who walked 10 and did not strike out anybody, was touched for nine hits and eight runs in the six innings. Six of the Bruins' runs were unearned as a result of six Whitman errors.
Wyckoff had three hits to lead the Bruins, while Winterstein and Taylor Hunter had two each. Micah Babbitt, Austin Shackelford, and Michael Lazcano had two hits each for the Missionaries, with Babbitt singling in Lazcano for their only run in the 8th.
In the nightcap, the Bruins scored in each of the first four innings to build up a 9-1 lead. Todd Siler had a run-scoring single in a four-run 1st, an RBI double in a three-run 3rd, and singled in another run in the 4th. The Bruins also had three triples in the first two innings by Bailey, Winterstein, and Kyle Kuenzi.
The Bruins collected 15 hits in all in the game, led by Siler's 3-for-3. Winterstein, Seymour, and Seth Monson had two hits apiece. Nate Rankin had two of the Missionaries' eight hits.
Southpaw Nick Hedgecock (4-1) went the first six innings for the Bruins, spacing six hits and walking three while fanning two and allowing two runs, one unearned. Preston Langeliers struck out four in two innings of one-hit relief before Brady Rhodes finished up. Sam Thompson (0-5) went seven for the Missionaries, surrendering 12 hits and nine runs, seven earned, with one strikeout and five walks.
The Bruins had 27 hits in the twinbill and drew 18 walks, but the Missionaries kept the damage from being worse than it could have been by turning four double plays in the first game and five in the second while stranding 21 George Fox runners.
George Fox (21-9, NWC 17-5) and Whitman (2-28, NWC 0-22) conclude their four-game series Sunday with a pair of seven-inning ballgames at 12:00 noon.