NEWBERG, Ore. – Pacific dominated the series opener after an offensive explosion in the third inning, but dropped the second game in heart-breaking fashion when George Fox rallied from behind to claim the extra-innings victory.
Pacific (23-12, 14-9 NWC) clinched a spot in the Northwest Conference Postseason tournament win today's win and control their own destiny in tomorrow's rubber match. One more win gives the Boxers their second consecutive NWC Championship and allows them to host the NWC Tournament at Chuck Bafaro Stadium next weekend.
In game one, the Boxers mashed three long balls in the third inning, including two grand slams, to put themselves out of sight.
Damon Tanner's (Sophomore/El Dorado Hills, CA) ninth-inning homer in game two gave the Boxers a chance to capture the conference title, but a two-run shot from George Fox's Matthew Sebolsky would tie the game, sending it to extras. The Bruins later walked it off in the bottom of the 10
th.
Patrick Muskat (Redshirt Freshman/Beaverton, OR) enjoyed an incredible day at the plate, hitting two home runs while collecting six RBI on the day.
Ryan Krout (Senior/Washougal, WA) notched his eighth long ball of the season in his 2-for-5 performance in game one.
Tanner picked up three hits on the afternoon including one important homer at the end of game two.
Game 1
After two scoreless frames to start the contest, the Boxers hit three home runs, including two grand slams, in a massive nine-run third inning to take control of the series. Muskat stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and launched a deep fly ball over the left field wall, a grand slam to give Pacific a 4-0 lead. Krout made it back-to-back homers with his solo shot to straight-away center field, his eighth big fly of the season.
Pacific kept the foot on the gas, loading the bases yet again with two outs.
Brad Altomare (Senior/San Ramon, CA) came up with another huge swing, blasting the second grand slam of the inning.
George Fox got a run back in the home half of the inning but the Boxers replied with two more runs in the fourth.
Tyler Quinn (Junior/Mililani, HI) led things off with a solid base hit to center before Muskat smacked his second homer of the day, making it 11-1.
Will Clark (Junior/Boise, ID) kept the Bruins in check as the left-hander cruised through 7.1 innings, surrendering just three earned runs on seven hits. The junior racked up six strikeouts and improved to 6-1 on the year.
Jordan Hara (Senior/Aiea, HI) singled through the left side in the top of the ninth to push another run across and the Boxers would rally for a couple more in their final turn at the plate, sealing the 14-3 victory in the series opener.
Hunter Edwards (Freshman/Palmdale, CA) came on to finish the contest on the bump, getting the last five outs to shut the door.
Game 2
Game two proved to be a pitcher's duel as starting pitchers
Kahi Bisho (Senior/Honolulu, HI) and George Fox's Travis Miller went toe-to-toe, matching each for five scoreless innings.
Bisho was excellent through five frames, holding the Bruins to two hits while allowing just five runners to reach base.
The Boxers put runners at second and third with just one out in the top of the fifth but were unable to capitalize on the scoring opportunity. George Fox started a two-out rally in their half of the inning, but Bisho navigated his way out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
Bisho departed in the sixth and he handed the ball to
Tyler Agnew (Junior/Folsom, CA), who was the next hurler to toe the rubber. Agnew fanned two hitters in his first inning of work before maneuvering around leadoff base hits in the seventh and eighth innings to keep things tied at 0-0.
After striking out in his first three at-bats, Tanner showed some unbelievable resilience when he provided a huge blow with his two-run bomb in the top of the ninth to break the deadlock.
Cayden Okada (Freshman/Waipahu, HI) recorded the last out in the bottom of the eighth and got the first out in the ninth but Matthew Sebolsky tied things up with a two-run home run to keep George Fox alive.
The Bruins carried this momentum into the extra innings, where they got out of a bases-loaded jam and rallied to pick up the walk-off victory in the bottom of the 10
th.
Up Next
The Boxers attempt to capture the NWC crown and solidify the top seed in the conference tournament with the conference finale tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m.
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