The Newberg Graphic
| Bruins go 0-2, are eliminated from regionals |
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| The GFU baseball team has an early exit from the west regionals with losses to La Verne and Trinity |
| By B. Scott Anderson ABILENE, Texas - An early four-run lead by George Fox was insufficient to deter the University of La Verne, which rallied for an 11-6 victory in an elimination game on the second day of action at the NCAA Division III west regional baseball tournament Thursday at McMurry University. The Bruins, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning as Todd Siler slugged a two-run home run to left following a single by Dan Winterstein. GFU added two more runs in the third inning on doubles by Pat Bailey, Matt Wyckoff and Ryan Fobert. Bruin starter Mark Putney (6-2) gave up a lead-off single to Jack Mehl in the first, breezed through two outs in the third, then ran into trouble. Mehl and Jason Munoz singled and Scott Marcus lofted a home run to right-center in the third, cutting the Bruin lead to 4-3. The Leopards went ahead with two runs in the fifth inning. La Verne took control with four runs in the sixth, only one of which was earned as the Bruins had three infield errors on three Leopard's hits in the inning. Down 9-4, the Bruins got two back in the eighth when Siler drilled his second two-run homer of the game to left, but the Leopards got those back in the bottom of the inning when J.M. Hattabaugh knocked in one run with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Moretti. Leopards lefthander Jimmy Wilfong (6-2), who replaced starter Jesse Sweet in the fifth, got credit for the win with four innings of one-hit relief, allowing only the second home run by Siler. Grant Wheatly came on with two outs in the eighth, and after hitting Seymour in the helmet with a pitch to bring the potential tying run to the plate, retired four Bruins in a row (two on strikeouts in the ninth) to notch his fifth save of the year. Putney suffered the loss while surrendering 11 hits and nine runs, five earned, with four strikeouts and no walks in six innings. A day earlier, the Bruins suffered an 8-1 loss to No. 5-seed Trinity University in the opening round of the tournament. Trinity picked up an unearned run in the first against George Fox's Nick Bratney (5-3) as Stosh Hoover singled with two out, stole second, advanced to third when catcher Ryan Fobert's throw bounced into center, and scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Jordan Pennington hit an RBI double before Dylan Early drilled a home run to right field. Early hit another two-run homer to almost the same spot in the eighth off Brady Rhodes, who had just thrown four shutout innings after relieving Bratney in the fourth. An error by Bailey at third on a potential double play ball in the ninth, opened the door for two more Tiger tallies, both unearned, with Felix and Jeff Claydon each singling in runs. Trinity lefthander Evan Bronson (9-3) threw a sparkling six-hitter and struck out 10 and walked one. George Fox ended the season with a 28-14 record. |