WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Down six runs and staring at a sweep, the Whitman College baseball team ripped up the script and walked off George Fox 8–7 in a wild, emotional comeback Saturday at Borleske Stadium.
For six innings, it looked like George Fox had the day locked away. The Bruins blasted three home runs in a four-run fourth and tacked on three more in the fifth to sprint out to a 7–1 lead, silencing the home crowd and chasing Whitman starter Jack Finn after four innings. But the Blues refused to fold.
The turning point came from the bullpen. Hawthorne Moody entered in the fifth and was nothing short of a rock, grinding through 4.1 scoreless innings while scattering just two hits and striking out five. His steady presence froze the George Fox offense in place and gave Whitman's dugout the belief – and the time – it needed to claw back.
Whitman's offense finally broke through in the seventh. Trailing 7–1, Halen Otte's leadoff single and a walk to Wyatt Miyamoto set the table, and shortstop Nick Teng ripped a run-scoring double to center to crack the scoreboard. Jonah Chang followed with a sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Sam Mieszkowski-Lapping delivered a clutch RBI single to right to cut the deficit to 7–4 and jolt Borleske back to life.
The pressure kept mounting on the Bruins in the eighth. Landon Runyan's leadoff double and a walk to Otte forced another George Fox pitching change, and Whitman pounced again. Chang punched an RBI single to left, and Christopher Nobrega followed with a game-tightening RBI knock, suddenly making it a 7–6 ballgame and setting the stage for a dramatic finish.
In the ninth, the top of the Whitman order finished what the comeback had started. Tristan Buehring, who began the day by launching a solo homer in the first, shot a single to center to open the inning. Third baseman Nate Petz then lined a single to left and took second, putting the winning run in scoring position and sending the Whitman dugout to the top rail.
Moments later, a wild pitch skipped to the backstop, allowing Buehring to race home with the tying run and Petz to rumble into third, flipping all the momentum squarely onto the Whitman side. With the Bruins in full retreat, Runyan stepped in and lasered a 2–1 pitch back up the middle for a walk-off single, scoring Petz and igniting a celebration as the Blues completed the 8–7 comeback win.
Buehring finished 3-for-5 with two runs and his early home run, while Runyan went 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBI and a key double in the eighth. Teng chipped in two hits, including that pivotal seventh-inning double, and Chang drove in two as Whitman pounded out 12 hits against a deep George Fox staff.
The Blues remain at home and will open a four-game series against the University of Puget Sound on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 12:00 p.m.
#GoWhitman
