4/18/2008 - Bruins Cancel Final Four Games Due to Litany of Injuries
NEWBERG, Ore. - Due to a series of season-ending injuries to too many players, leaving the team with only seven able-bodied athletes, George Fox University has canceled its final four games of the 2008 softball season that were to be played this weekend in Tacoma, Wash.
The Bruins were scheduled to play Northwest Conference games at Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday and at the University of Puget Sound on Sunday, but after George Fox director of athletics Craig Taylor and softball coach Mark Vergets consulted with officials at both schools, the decision was reluctantly made to forego the trip north.
According to NCAA by-laws, the games are officially designated as “no contests” and do not count on any of the three teams’ overall or Northwest Conference won-lost records. They are not forfeits, which only occurs once the teams are on site and one team is unable or refuses to play for some reason. None of the three teams are involved in the conference race for first place.
George Fox’s season ends with an overall record of 3-27-1 and a conference record of 3-21. PLU and UPS still have games next weekend.
The Bruins began the season with 13 players on the roster, including three pitchers, but a pre-season injury eliminated one pitcher. Two players left the team in the early portion of the season for personal reasons, one infielder suffered a season-ending knee injury last weekend, and then the Bruins’ other two starting pitchers were both injured at practice this week.
“Unbelievable,” said Vergets, shaking his head. “We had actually recruited another player from our women’s basketball team to give us nine for this weekend, and then both my starting pitchers go down. I hated to cancel because we at least had an opportunity to move up in the conference standings, but NCAA softball rules require us to field a team of nine players and we just couldn’t do it. We appreciate the coaches at PLU and UPS being understanding of our situation.”