By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NEWBERG, Ore. -- The Willamette University baseball team accumulated 26 hits during a doubleheader on Sunday, March 14, but it was a defensive play that started the final momentum swing as the Bearcats defeated George Fox University, 9-8 and 19-5 in five innings. In the second game, Willamette held a slim 5-4 lead with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning when Layton Wagner (So., INF/RHP, Boise, ID/Timberline HS) started a 5-3 double play to end the threat. The Bearcats then scored 14 runs in the top of the fifth inning on their way to a run-rule win in the scheduled 7-inning game.
Willamette trailed 8-7 after six innings in the 9-inning opener, but scored two runs in the seventh inning to pull in front, 9-8. The Bearcats kept GFU off the scoreboard for the final three innings.
With the series split at 2-2, the Bearcats moved to 8-4, 2-2 in the NWC. The Bruins dropped to 7-5, 2-2 in the NWC.
Michael Nelsen (Sr., C, Folsom, CA/Vista Del Lago HS) hit three home runs during the doubleheader, giving him a team-leading eight homers on the season. He hit a three-run homer and a solo homer in the first game, and added a two-run blast in the second game. He registered eight RBIs on the day.
In the first game, Willamette scored once in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by Luke Werkmeister-Martin (So., UT, Louisville, CO/Monarch HS). The Bruins answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Leon Johnson III walked and Trevor Nannini belted a triple to produce the first run for GFU. A single by Travis Miller drove in Nannini. Miller was later thrown out on the basepaths, but the Bruins added a run scored by Chase Fetzer.
WU tied the score at 3-3 in the second inning on a two-run double by Tyler Vandemark (Sr., OF, Modesto, CA/Joseph A. Gregori HS). Jonny Suchor (So., DH, Boulder, CO/Boulder HS) and Ethan Fischel (Jr., SS, Eureka, CA/Eureka HS) scored on the play. George Fox moved into a 5-3 lead by scoring one run in the bottom of the second and one run in the third.
The Bearcats tallied three runs in the fifth to grab a 6-5 edge. After Vandemark and Werkmeister-Martin walked, Nelson smacked a 3-run homer to left field. WU increased its lead to 7-5 in the sixth, when Fischel doubled with one out, moved to third on a single by Sean Little (Sr., INF, Corvallis, OR/Crescent Valley HS), and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Vandemark.
GFU took an 8-7 advantage on the scoreboard with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Johnson III opened the inning with a single to left. He reached third on a stolen base and a throwing error. Two walks loaded the bases. Fetzer hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Johnson III. King and Marc Audet each added an RBI single.
Willamette regained the lead in the seventh. With one out, Nelsen blasted a solo home run out of the park in left field. Ben Setlak (Sr., OF, Evergreen, CO/Evergreen HS) followed with a single. Joey Faudskar (Grad., OF, Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle HS) pinch-ran for Setlak and scored with two outs on a double by Suchor.
Brady Joyner (Fy., RHP/OF, Las Vegas, NV/Shadow Ridge HS) went to the mound for the Bearcats in the bottom of the seventh and pitched three innings to earn the win, as he improved to 2-0. Joyner allowed no runs and just one hit while striking out four batters and giving up two walks. The Bruins' best chance to score on Joyner was in the eighth, as Travis Miller received a leadoff walk, went to second on a passed ball with one out, and reached third on a wild pitch with two outs. Joyner struck out Audet to end the threat.
Nelsen was 2 for 5 with his home runs and four RBIs. Vandemark finished 2 of 3 with a run scored, three RBIs, a double, and a walk. Fischel went 2 of 4 with a double and two runs. Four GFU players registered two hits. They were Johnson III, Nannini, King, and Audet. Nannini had the game's only triple, while King and Audet each hit a double.
The Bearcats grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2, as Nelsen belted a 2-run homer. GFU cut the margin to 2-1 with a solo homer by Johnson III in the bottom of the inning.
Willamette plated three runs in the third, as Werkmeister-Martin, Nelsen, and Fischel each registered an RBI. The Bruins pulled within 5-3 in the bottom of the third on a 2-run single by Nannini.
George Fox had runners at first and second on a walk and a hit batsman when the game entered a rain delay with one out in the fourth inning. When play resumed, Franklin Leonard walked to load the bases. Johnson III also walked, forcing in a run and cutting WU's lead to 5-4. Nannini batted next and hit the ball to the left side of the infield, where Wagner picked it up, took several steps to tag third, and sent the ball to Werkmeister-Martin at first. The throw put out Nannini by a slim margin.
The top of the fifth featured eight hits and 14 runs by the Bearcats, who sent 19 batters to the plate. The first two runs scored on a double by Fischel. Other big hits were 2-run singles by Samuel Daly (So., RF, El Dorado Hills, CA/Jesuit HS), Vandemark, Little, and Ethan Dunnam (So., C, El Cajon, CA/Valhalla HS). Vandemark also drove in a run with a double.
JD Willis (Fy., Chandler, AZ/Perry HS), who went to the mound for the Bearcats following the rain delay, faced five batters in the bottom of the fifth. He allowed two hits to start the inning, but forced a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly before ending the game with a strikeout. He tossed 1 2/3 innings to advance his record to 2-0.
Little was 3 of 3 with a pair of runs and four RBIs in the second game. Werkmeister-Martin went 3 of 4 with four runs and an RBI, while Nelsen was 2 of 3 with a homer, three runs, and four RBIs. Vandemark drove in three runs and Dunnam brought in two runs. The Bearcats walked 10 times in addition to recording 14 hits. Meanwhile, Willamette limited George Fox to six hits and three walks.
Willamette will play Pacific Lutheran University in a four-game NWC series on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader each day starting at 12 p.m. (PDT).
