April 1, 2007

Lutes Complete Three-Game Sweep of No. 5 George Fox

Line Score

Jared Simon - two hits, three runs

TACOMA, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran had hoped to make a statement this weekend in a three-game Northwest Conference baseball series against conference leader and No. 5-ranked George Fox.

Consider the message delivered.

The Lutes wrapped up a three-game series sweep – only the second time in 12 years that a Pat Bailey-coached George Fox team has been swept in conference play – with a 10-4 victory over the Bruins on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Lutes improve to 10-2 in the conference and to 21-6 overall. The defending conference champion Bruins fall to 11-4 in the NWC and to 19-4 overall. PLU is two games ahead of defending conference champion George Fox and also Linfield (8-4) in the loss column. In addition, the Lutes have a .833 conference winning percentage to .733 for the Bruins and .667 for Linfield.

The visiting Bruins, smarting after losing by 9-1 and 8-3 scores yesterday, took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Sunday. Josh Burch led off with a single and eventually scored on a run-scoring double by Pat Bailey (no relation to the George Fox coach). Bailey then scored on a two-out single by Dan Wentzell.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Bruins starter and loser Preston Langeliers suffered through a bout of wildness. After walking and picking off the leadoff batter, Langeliers then walked Jordan Post and hit Tyler Green. Justin Whitehall singled to drive in Post with the first run, and Langeliers followed by hitting Logan Andrews with a pitch to load the bases. Green scored the tying run on Kris Hansen’s sacrifice fly, and Langeliers hit Brandon Sales with a pitch to again load the bases. Relief pitcher Brady Rhodes was greeted by Jared Simon’s two-run single, and Roger Guzman followed with a run-scoring double down the left field line. Simon scored the sixth run of the inning on a wild pitch.

George Fox got two runs back in the fifth inning when Bryan Donohue and Wentzell led off with singles and scored on a double by Daniel Downs, but the Lutes increased their lead to 7-4 by scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the inning.

PLU broke the game open with three runs in the seventh inning. With one out, Simon was hit by a pitch, Guzman walked and Ryan Thorne was hit by a pitch. Post delivered one run with a sacrifice fly, and Green singled to plate the other two.

Brett Brunner earned his fourth pitching win against two defeats despite giving up four runs and 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings. He did not walk or hit a batter, something that five George Fox pitchers struggled with. The Bruins walked six batters and hit six others in addition to giving up 11 hits. All but one player in the PLU lineup had a base hit, and Simon finished the game with two hits, three runs and two runs batted in.

George Fox broke out of yesterday’s offensive slump with 13 hits, including two each by Drew Johnson, Bailey, Wentzel and Downs. Bailey had a pair of doubles to his credit, giving him four doubles in the last two games of the series.

- PLU -