The Loggers baseball team was unable to make up any ground in conference play as they were swept by the Bruins from George Fox, April 6-8, dropping Puget Sound to 11-18 overall and 6-9 within the Northwest Conference (NWC).
The Bruins rushed to a 6-0 lead in Game 1 of the doubleheader but the Loggers cut into the deficit when junior Lucas Stone (Asland, Ore.) doubled to bring sophomore Connor Savage (Bothell, Wash.) home.
Stone later came home as well when junior Jeff Walton (Carnichael, Calif.) walked with the bases loaded.
Puget Sound tallied one more run to make the score 6-3, but the game was delayed shortly after due to rain.
After play resumed junior Christian Carter (San Diego, Calif.) drove in Savage on a single in the seventh inning to cut George Fox’s lead to two.
However, the Bruins’ Ian Buckles shut down the last seven Logger batters to receive the save and 8-4 victory to surge ahead in the three-game series.
Game 2 commenced with the Loggers scoring three runs in the first inning thanks to sophomore Bobby Hosmer’s (Tucson, Ariz.) bases-loaded double and Walton’s RBI single. Stone also drove in a run to extend Puget Sound’s lead to four through two innings.
The Loggers were unable to score after this point once Bruins’ reliever Eric Kittelson took the mound.
In just over six innings at the helm he recorded four strikeouts and no runs allowed.
George Fox staged a comeback to tie the game heading into the ninth inning, but the Loggers nearly won it in the bottom of the ninth.
Carter led off with a single and was then substituted out for pinch runner sophomore Eric Lund (Tacoma, Wash.), who advanced to second base on a sacrifice fly.
With two outs, senior Stephen Kelsey (Seattle, Wash.) smacked a single, but right-fielder Tim Williams gunned Lund out at home to send the game into extra innings.
The Bruins won in ten innings, 5-4 when Matt Zeller singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on a single.
Game 3 proved to be a culmination of what has become a frustrating season for Puget Sound. The Bruins manhandled the Loggers 16-6 in the series finale, earning themselves a series sweep on the Loggers home turf.
The big blows came in the fifth and sixth innings, where the Bruins blew open a 3-1 game by scoring 11 of their runs.
The struggling Loggers prepare this week, as they will travel to Portland, Ore. to battle Lewis & Clark in a three-game series.
PHOTO COURTESY/LOGGER ATHLETICS