NEWBERG, Ore. — In a closely contested back-and-forth battle, Cal Lutheran baseball came up short against George Fox University, falling to the Bruins 6-5 on Friday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Bruins (21-16) struck first with a run in the opening frame,
Luke Wechsler struck out the side to end the first inning and
Eric Gonzalez gunned down a runner attempting to steal third base to end the second inning before the Kingsmen (24-10, 13-8 SCIAC) took the lead in the third.
Carlos Vega went deep to lead off the third inning, his first home run of the season.
Alec Garcia was hit by a pitch,
Kai Caranto walked, and with two outs,
Ethan Dungo tripled down the right-field line to drive home both runners and make it 3-1. Wechsler held it down in the bottom of the third to keep momentum on the Kingsmen's side and they added one more the next inning;
Josh Quinn singled, used some savvy baserunning to take two bags on a sacrifice bunt play, and scored thanks to a Bruins error to make it 4-1.
The Bruins answered back though, re-taking the lead after putting up a four-spot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Now down 5-4, Wechsler's outing ended in the sixth inning as
Cameron Cooper came into relief, pitching the final two outs of the sixth and a clean seventh.
A hit-by-pitch and two consecutive walks loaded the bases for the Kingsmen in the top of the eighth, and Garcia sent a fly ball to right field deep enough to score a run via a sacrifice fly to tie the game back up at 5-5.
Leaving runners on in the top of the inning would come back to bite the Kingsmen, as an error and two walks loaded the bases for the Bruins.
Kyle Johnson (L) entered the game to get the Kingsmen out of a jam, but a third walk would bring home a run for the Bruins, who now led 6-5.
Milan Bugarin got the job done by mediating damage, getting the last two outs of the inning to strand the bases loaded and keep the deficit at just one.
The Kingsmen had just three more outs remaining to tie the game back up in the ninth as Caranto smacked a single to lead off the inning. Dungo singled with one out to put runners on first and second, but the Kingsmen couldn't find that last timely hit to score and tie the game.
THE NUMBERS
- Wechsler: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R (4 earned), 3 BB, 6 K
- Cooper: 2.0 IP, H, ER, BB, K
- Vega: 1-2, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB
- Dungo: 2-3, 3B, 2 RBI, HBP
UP NEXT
The Kingsmen continue their road trip in Oregon with a three-game series against a top-25 hopeful in Willamette University (22-10) beginning with a doubleheader tomorrow, Saturday, April 27 at noon and 3:30 p.m.
