Baseball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC BASEBALL
GEORGE FOX AT PACIFIC (DOUBLEHEADER)
Games No. 10 & 11/Home Games No. 1 & 2
Sat., Mar. 9, 11 a.m., Chuck Bafaro Stadium, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
goboxers.com/livestats
Live Video:
goboxers.com/webcasts
GEORGE FOX AT PACIFIC
Game No. 12/Home Game No. 3
Sun., Mar. 10, Noon, Chuck Bafaro Stadium, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
goboxers.com/livestats
Live Video:
goboxers.com/webcasts
BOXERS HOPE HOME FIELD WILL YIELD FIRST WIN OF SEASON
After playing their first nine games of the season on the road, the Pacific baseball team makes their long awaited return to Chuck Bafaro Stadium for their first home games of the 2013 season. The Boxers hope that the friendly confines can yield the Boxers' first win of the season as they host George Fox for a three-game Northwest Conference series.
BOXER BYTES
• In Saturday's opener, Linfield starter Chris Haddeland held Pacific to just four hits and a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning as the Wildcats rolled to a 10-2 win.
Rob Dittrick took his first loss of the season in his first decision of the year.
• Pacific's offensive output improve in the second game on Saturday with nine hits, but the Boxers left 13 men on base in a 6-1 loss to the Wildcats.
Logan Moen and
Donnie Bradley each had two hits in the loss, with Bradley logging the Boxers' lone RBI.
• Pacific rallied in Sunday's third game with a three-run ninth inning, but reliever Garett Speyer scored a strikeout with the tying run at third base to secure the 4-3 win and series sweep for Linfield.
Logan Moen and
Donnie Bradley each went 2 for 4 for the Boxers, with Moen's single in the ninth starting the three-run rally.
•
Logan Moen led the Boxers in the three-game Linfield set, batting .400 while going 4 for 10 with a run scored. The effort improve the senior's batting average to .290 in ine starts this season. He is one of two Pacific players to have started all nine games this season.
•
Walker Olis continues to lead the Boxers and rank third in the NWC with a .458 batting average. He also ranks second in the NWC with a .519 on-base percentage and is tied for eighth with a .583 slugging percentage. Olis also leads Pacific with eight-game hitting and reached base streaks.
•
Charlie Gaff has reached base in each of his last seven games and ranks second for the Boxers by drawing four walks. Gaff has started eight games for the Boxers in 2013 in center field, which includes all three games in the Linfield series.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
GEORGE FOX
The Bruins enter the week tied for first in the NWC with Linfield at 3-0 and are 10-4 overall. George Fox has won four straight and five of their last six, including four wins over NWC teams. The Bruins swept their NWC season-opening series from Lewis & Clark over the weekend. In Saturday's opener, the Bruins pounded out 19 hits, capitalized on six Pioneers' errors and hung a nine on the scoreboard in the third inning in a 21-3 rout. Josh Rapacz led the way, going 3 for 4 with seven RBIs, a double and a home run. The Bruins then added 16 hits to take a 12-3 victory in the nightcap. GFU scored 10 of their runs over the first four innings, led by a 4 for 5 performance from Rapacz with three runs, two RBIs and two more doubles. In Sunday's single game, Lewis & Clark rallied against four George Fox relievers to take an 8-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, but the Bruins scored six runs in the bottom of the frame, with Timothy Williams hitting the game-winning bases loaded single, to score the 9-8 win. Rapacz went 2 for 4 to lead the Bruins, who were limited to six hits, but drew eight walks. Rapacz leads the George Fox offense with a .500 average in 14 games, including 28 hits, 19 runs, 11 doubles, a triple, a home run and 21 RBIs. Williams ia averaging .420 with 21 hits, 19 runs, eight doubles and 18 RBIs. Connor Harris leads the pitching staff with a 3-0 record and 2.14 earned run average, allowing five runs on eight hits in 21 innings. As a team, George Fox is hitting .324 and has compiled a 4.40 earned run average. Marty Hunter is in his sixth season as George Fox head coach.
AGAINST BRADLEY: George Fox leads 38-15
LAST MEETING: George Fox won 8-4 in Newberg, Ore. on Feb. 24
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
MOEN DOWN OPPOSING HITTING: Logan Moen (Sr., Brier, Wash.) did his part to provide some much needed offense for the Boxers in the three-game set with Linfield. Moen led the team by batting .400 in the series, going 4 for 10. He went 2 for 5 in the 6-1 loss in Saturday's nightcap and then went 2 for 4 in Sunday's 4-3 loss. Moen had the single up the middle and scored the first run in the Boxers' three-run ninth inning rally on Sunday. Moen is one of just two Pacific players (
Nick Tasaka (Sr., Kawaii Kai, Hawaii) is the other) to have started all nine games, splitting between first base, third base and designated hitter. He enters the week second for the Boxers with a .290 batting average, incluing three runs scored.
WALKER LEADS THE BOXERS: While struggling a bit against Linfield's strong pitching,
Walker Olis (Fr., Burlington, Wash.) continues to be the leading offensive player for the Boxers early in his freshman season. Olis enters the week leading the Boxers and ranking third in the NWC with a .458 batting average. In 28 at bats, Olis has 12 hits, two runs and four RBIs. He also ranks second in the NWC with a .519 on-base percentage and is tied for eighth with a .583 slugging percentage. Olis went 3 for 12 in the Linfield series, notching one hit in each game. Olis enters the week leading the Boxers as well with an eight-game hitting streak and an eight-game reached base streak.
SOLID RELIEF: In what was a rough weekend for Pacific pitching,
Tyler Kotchik (So., Beaverton, Ore.) put together the Boxers' best overall performance in relief. Kotchik relieved
Kyle Treadway (So., Phoenix, Ore.) in the sixth inning of Sunday's game against the Wildcats, and proceeded to allow just two hits and one walk while striking out two in 2.2 innings. Kotchik enters week leading Pacific with a 2.31 earned run average. In 11.2 innings, the most of any Pacific reliever, Kotchik has allowed six runs, three earned, on 17 hits with four strikeouts. He has made four appearances this season, including a start at George Fox on Feb. 24. Kotchik finished his freshman season with an 0-3 record and 5.79 earned run average in 18.2 innings of work.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Pacific hopes that a return to Chuck Bafaro Stadium will provide some winning mojo for the Boxers and snap the team's nine-game losing streak. Chuck Bafaro Stadium were indeed friendly confines for the Boxers in their 2012 championship season as they went 15-3 at home. It helped that Pacific played all of their March games at home, which included five games moved to Forest Grove due to unplayable field conditions. The home schedule will be much less fruitful for the Boxers in 2013 with just 13 games slated for Chuck Bafaro Stadium, of of which will come in conference series.
THE MARCH TO 300 WINS: Head Coach
Greg Bradley enters the weekend in the quest to become only the second coach in Pacific history to amass 300 wins. Bradley enters the week with a 298-348-2 record. Bradley took over as Pacific head coach in 1996 after serving four seasons as an assistant coach under the legendary Chuck Bafaro and one season under Jerry Hand.
SELECT SCHEDULE OF WEB STREAMED GAMES ON TAP: For the first time, Pacific will provide a live video web stream 11 of the team's 13 home games. The video feed will provide a view of the field from the press box without audio commentary. Pacific will stream all three games of the George Fox series this weekend. Games could be added or removed from the schedule depending on weather cancellations or relocations. To view the live video webcasts, please visit
goboxers.com/webcasts.
SEASON PREVIEW: The complete 2013 Pacific baseball season preview can be found at
bit.ly/WItPD6.
CONCORDIA GAME POSTPONED: Pacific's opening game at the NWC-Cascade Challenge, on Feb. 22 at Concordia (Ore.), was postponed due to rain. A potential make-up date has yet to be announced.
PACIFIC PICKED FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL: Just as they were before their 2012, Pacific is picked to finish fifth according to a poll of the league's coaches conducted in January. Pacific received 40 of a possible 80 votes, landing one point behind George Fox and 11 points behind Linfield. Whitworth, to co-NWC champion that also won the NCAA Division III West Region, was chosen to repeat with a total of 68 points, including six first place votes, Pacific Lutheran was picked second with 59 points, including three first place votes. Puget Sound and Willamette tied for sixth with 25 points while Lewis & Clark and Whitman were picked to tie for eighth with 12 points apiece.
