Bruins Equal Best Start Ever With Win Over Warriors

Daniel Downs led the Bruins with three hits.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

NEWBERG - Equaling the best start in team history, the George Fox University Bruins ran their record to 5-0 as they banged out 13 hits en route to a 10-4 victory over the Corban College Warriors in the opening game of the Yamhill County Spring Baseball Classic Thursday afternoon here at Morse Field.

The Bruins chipped away at Corban right-hander Jordan Emery (0-2) with single runs in the 2nd and 6th innings and a pair in both the 3rd and 4th frames before breaking the game open with four in the top of the 8th (the Bruins were the designated visitors for this tournament game).

Daniel Downs doubled and Matt Wyckoff singled him home in the 2nd to get the Bruins on the board first, and Bo Thunell slugged a two-run shot to left-center, his first home run of the season, in the 3rd.

Wyckoff had another RBI single in the 4th, and he scored when Ryan Fobert's drive to left-center resulted in a triple after center field Jamie McGraw's foot got trapped under the wire fence while tracking the ball down.

Fobert doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the 6th, making it 6-0.

The Bruins put it away in the 8th against relievers Kyle Myers and Brandon Wolters.

Drew Johnson singled in Josh Burch, Dan Wentzell's bases-loaded walk forced in a run, Bryan Donohue scored on a balk by Wolters, and Thunell came in on Downs' grounder to short.

Downs led the Bruins with three hits, including a double, while Thunell, Wyckoff, and Fobert had two hits each, with Thunell collecting a double and Fobert a double and a triple.

Nick Bratney (2-0) went the distance for the Bruins, scattering nine hits among nine different batters, striking out two and walking one.

He threw only 99 pitches and was helped out by four double plays. All the runs he allowed were unearned runs due to two unusual errors.

In the 7th, Ryan Heil reached first safely when Thunell's throw from third was wide and it was ruled by the base umpire that first baseman Bryan Donohue missed the runner on an apparent tag play.

Heil later scored on Brett Timmerman's sacrifice fly. In the 9th, the Warriors got three more runs on an RBI single by Owen Frasier, a double play grounder, and a balk, but a catcher's interference call had kept the inning alive and made all the runs unearned.

Thursday's other Yamhill County Spring Classic game was at 5:00 PM in McMinnville at Linfield College's Roy Helser Field between tournament co-host Linfield and Concordia University-Portland.

Friday's schedule has two games at each site: the University of British Columbia vs. Pacific Lutheran University at 10:00 AM and George Fox vs. British Columbia at 2:00 PM in Newberg, and Pacific Lutheran vs. Concordia at 2:00 PM and Linfield vs. Corban at 6:00 PM in McMinnville.

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