FOREST GROVE, Ore.  Despite scoring first in both contests, Whitman was unable to notch a win on Sunday in non-conference action at the Northwest Conference Round Robin, falling to George Fox 14-4 in a morning game, and to Pacific (Ore.) University, 3-1, in the evening game.

In Game 1, it seemed that fans would be in for an offensive showing as both teams put up two runs in the first inning. However, an impressive relief outing from Bruins reliever Isaac Olson shut the Blues down over the final six innings as host George Fox outslugged Whitman 18-6 en route to its 10-run victory at Morse Athletic Field in Newberg, Oregon.

The Blues opened up the game with three consecutive hits -- back to back singles from Brett Williams and Joseph Zimmer -- and an RBI double off of the bat of Lucas Thrun to give Whitman an early 1-0 lead. The lead would be extended to 2-0 when Kevin Nakamura lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Zimmer. 

After George Fox matched with a two-run inning of their own in the bottom of the first, Whitman retook the lead in the second inning as Anthony Lim walked, and advanced to third after an errant pick-off attempt from George Fox starter AJ Atherton. Williams sacrifice scored Lim and put the Blues back in front 3-2.

The Bruins opened the game up in the bottom of the second inning off  Whitman starter Jimmy Smiley (1-1), who recorded the first out of the inning, but was then touched up for five runs on five hits and hit a batter before being relieved by Charlie Carmichael.

Any further damage was avoided as Court Osborn gunned down the Bruins' Kyler Brudwick trying to score from third, ending the inning with Whitman trailing, 7-3, but still within reach.

Whitman got one back in the top of the fourth, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Anthony Nevoso to score Thrun, however the Bruins managed to control the game the rest of the way.

The Bruins scored two runs in three of the next four innings, adding just one in the sixth, and cruised their way to the victory behind the pitching effort of Olson, who gave up only two hits in his 6.0 innings of shutout baseball to pick up his first win of the season.

Whitman traveled 30 minutes north after Game 1 to take on Pacific in Forest Grove in their final game of the weekend. After some early fireworks, both teams struggled to find any offense but the Boxers outlasted the Blues, 3-1.

As was the case in their first game, the Blues were on the board first as the combination of Williams, Zimmerman, and Thurn each had singles in their first at-bat against Kevin Quinn, the third of which resulted in an RBI single to give the Blues the early 1-0 lead.

After Jake Wishart walked to load the bases with nobody out, the inning turned sour as Tyler Lewis struck out and Nakamura grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Boxers countered with a run of their own in their half of the opening frame as Legeza drew a lead-off walk from Blues starter Henry Lin. After a wild pitch, a pair of groundouts allowed for Legeza to tie the game at one apiece.

Pacific took the lead for good in the third and was keyed by a couple of Blues miscues. After a leadoff walk issued to Max Nealon, Legeza's bunt single put runners on first and second with nobody out. After another walk loaded the bases, Ryan Krout had an infield fly called on a ball that Williams couldn't quite track, and Nealon came in to score to give the Boxers a 2-1 lead.

The Blues attempted to counter in the top of the fourth when they were able to load the bases with only one out, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the threat leaving three men on.

In its half of the frame, Pacific was able to tack on another run and chased Lin (1-1) from the game. After a two-out error was followed with command issues from Lin, (who issued five free passes and hit three Boxer hitters with pitches in his 3.2 innings of work) who was unable to retire the next three hitters he faced before Collin Anderson was brought on in relief. Anderson struck out Krout to end the inning, but by then the Boxers had added an insurance run and held a 3-1 advantage.    

From there, Whitman struggled through the middle innings to find any offense against Quinn (1-0). Quinn, who went 7.1 innings on the night, retired the final eight batters he faced and 13 of the final 14 in picking up his first win of the season.

The Blues found some life again in the top of the ninth against Boxers' reliever Matt Jensen. After Anthony Nevoso had a one out single, Alex Behrman came off the bench to deliver a sharp single to left, which was followed by a lined shot into right by Lim to load the bases.

Pacific responded by bringing in their closer Cole Kanazawa, who induced a fly out from Williams and put the spotlight on Court Osborn, who had come on as a defensive replacement for Zimmer in the bottom of the eighth. Osborn did all that he could in a quality at-bat, fouling off five consecutive pitches, before the seventh pitch of the at-bat resulted in a strikeout and sent the Blues home empty-handed.

Collin Anderson was tremendous in the contest in relief of Lin, combining with Brandon Henry to blank Pacific over the final 4.1 innings of play, but it was not enough as the Blues fell to 3-5 on the young season.

Whitman will resume their season for their home opener in Northwest Conference action Saturday, as they welcome the Boxers to Walla Walla on Saturday at Borleske Stadium.