George Fox Drubs Lutes in NWC Playoff Game

Box Score

NEWBERG, Ore. - With a NCAA Division III postseason playoff berth on the line Saturday at Morse Field, George Fox hammered Pacific Lutheran, 24-6, punching its own ticket to the regional tournament in nearby McMinnville and putting the Lutes' postseason hopes in jeopardy.

The Bruins (33-9) and the Lutes (31-9) tied for the Northwest Conference championship with 27-5 records, forcing Saturday's playoff game under sunny skies. The Lutes wished it would have rained instead as the Bruins rained hit after hit against five different pitchers. By the time it was all over, George Fox had battered PLU for 25 hits, including seven for extra bases, in eight innings. In addition, the normally sure-handed PLU defense was less than stellar, committing a total of four errors in the game.

The win gives the Bruins the conference's automatic berth. Now, for the Lutes to achieve their dream of NCAA postseason play, they have to hope for an at-large berth from the selection committee. The tournament field will be announced on Monday morning, May 11.

Pacific Lutheran opened the game on a positive note with two runs in the first inning on a single by Josh Takayoshi, a hit batter, a run-scoring single by Matt Akridge and a throwing error by the Bruins.

Lutes starter Robert Bleecker, who stepped to the mound with a 9-0 record this year, didn't get out of the first inning as the Bruins scored eight times on eight hits and a pair of PLU errors. Bleecker's string of 15 straight wins over two seasons ended after he allowed eight earned runs on seven hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

It didn't get much better after that. The Bruins scored three in the third, one in the fourth, two in the sixth, three more in the seventh and seven in the eighth inning. By the end of the game, George Fox head coach Marty Hunter had sent a total of 16 different hitters to the plate. The icing on the Bruins' cake came when pinch hitter Derek Aldrich launched the game's only home run, a three-run blast, in the bottom of the eighth inning.

None of the Lutes' five pitcher escaped unscathed as the Bruins continually ripped line drives all around Morse Field. The top three hitters got it going for the Bruins - Kyle Kuenzi finished with five hits and four runs, Matt Wyckoff had four hits, four runs and three RBI, and Bo Thunnell collected four hits, four runs and four RBI. No. 5 hitter Dan Winterstein added three hits and three runs and No. 6 hitter Seth Anderson had four hits and five runs batted in.

For the Lutes, Takayoshi, Kris Hansen, Jordan Post and Akridge - the top four hitters in the lineup - all had a pair of hits as the PLU managed 12 against three different George Fox pitchers. All of PLU's hits were singles. Nick Bratney improved his record to 5-3, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

For George Fox, it's time to prepare for the West Region tournament at Linfield College in McMinnville. For the Lutes, it's a waiting game.

- PLU -