The Trail

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Sports

A Logger swings low for a jack to center field. UPS is currently in second place in the NWC standings.

In a test of first-place teams, the Puget Sound Loggers handed the George Fox Bruins their toughest tests of the season, falling 8-7 in extra innings before dropping a 6-5 decision in the nightcap, in a Northwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Morse Field in Newberg, Ore.

In the first game, it was the Loggers who jumped ahead early as AJ Jorg singled up the middle to score Gregorio Beck and Joe Newland and give UPS a 2-0 lead. The Bruins took over the lead in the third inning on a three-run home run by Bo Thunell that gave George Fox a 3-2 advantage. The Bruins opened the lead with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth but the Loggers retook the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth to tie things up, 5-5. After single runs by GFU in the bottoms of the fifth and sixth, the Loggers got back on the board in seventh inning when Beck singled in Michael Olsen to pull within one run and then Tim Steggall singled in Beck to tie the score at seven runs apiece. After a scoreless eighth and a scoreless ninth, the Bruins won the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th to take over the NWC standings.

In the second game, the Bruins jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first two innings before the Loggers made things interesting in the fourth inning. Beck doubled to center to score Olsen to score the Loggers' first run of the year. Sean Bayha (Arlington, Wash.) then scored Beck and Newland on a fielders choice to bring Puget Sound within two runs, 5-3. After a solo run for the Bruins in the bottom of the sixth, the Loggers added two runs in the seventh inning when Shaun Kiriu (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) tripled in Chris Dunbar (Camano Island, Wash./Everett CC) and then Steggall singled in Kiriu to close the gap back to two runs, 6-4. Unfortunately, the Loggers couldn't get any more runs across as George Fox took the win. Ryan Gustafson (Bellevue, Wash./Sammamish) went all eight innings, striking out four Bruins batters but taking his first loss of the season.

Junior Michael Olsen went four-for-four on the day and the Loggers pounded out eight hits but it wasn't enough for Puget Sound to hold off the George Fox Bruins, 7-0, in a Northwest Conference baseball game on Sunday afternoon in Newberg, Ore.

Continued...

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