PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College baseball secured their first post-season berth in 30 years and first Northwest Conference tournament berth in program history with two wins against George Fox University in their final regular season doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.  
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 5, George Fox 4
Lewis & Clark 8, George Fox 5 
(Lewis & Clark 25-11, 14-9 NWC)
(George Fox 15-20, 9-14 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Pioneer pitchers Brett Pierson and Luke Ritter each picked up their fifth wins of the season and threw for a combined 12.2 innings, and senior Jack Savant hit 4-6 with three runs scored and an RBI on the day to lead Lewis & Clark to wins of 5-4 and 8-5 over George Fox.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
 
Lewis & Clark's Pierson pitched seven full innings with five hits, three earned runs, and a strikeout to earn his fifth win on the mound in a 5-4 game one victory. The afternoon did not start as the junior hoped when George Fox's lead-off hitter, Jared Gee, homered to left field to put the Bruins up 1-0. Pierson then pitched to 13 Bruin batters before giving up his next hit in the fifth inning.
 
Dylan Moore led off the second inning for the Pioneers and reached on a hit-by-pitch. The senior then stole second to put himself in scoring position. Junior Jakob Ghammachi hit a single up the middle to advance Moore 90 feet, who then scored as the Bruins centerfielder, Gee, had trouble gathering the ball, leading to the run. Ghammachi then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Justin Cavagnaro. The Bruins walked the nine-hole hitter for the Pioneers, Brandon Gonzaga to turn the lineup over for the first time. Savant hit an RBI single to right center for his second hit of the day, scoring Ghammachi and advancing Gonzaga to third. Senior Jack Thomson single through the left side to drive the freshman in from third, to put the Pios up 3-1 after two.
 
The Pioneers added two more runs in the fifth after Savant led off the inning with a single, then junior Luke Bass launched his eighth home run of the year over the centerfield fence.
 
The Bruins responded with two more solo home runs in the seventh inning to pull within 5-3 heading into the stretch.
 
Junior reliever Anthony Clerici entered the game in the ninth inning to close out the Bruins. George Fox was able to score a run off Clerici before he struck out the final batter for his sixth save of the year and put the Pioneers one step closer to the postseason.

GAME TWO RECAP
 
George Fox looked to start game two the same as the first, with Gee as the lead-off batter. Gee hit a 2-2 pitch to right field for a single to start the game. During the next at-bat, the Pios recorded their first out with a 1-3-6-1-4-3 pick off of Gee. Ritter retired the next two batters on a strikeout and ground out for a quick 1-2-3 inning to start the game.
 
In the bottom of the inning, lead-off batter Savant reached base safely for the fourth time of the afternoon on a hit-by-pitch. Sophomore Brennen Davis recorded his first hit of the day after going 0-3 in game one with a single up the middle to advance Savant. Sophomore Will Heron recorded his first hit of the day, an RBI single through the right side, to score Savant and move Davis up 90 feet. Moore earned his first RBI of the afternoon with a double down the left field line and put the Pioneers up 2-0 after the first inning.
 
After another quick 1-2-3 inning from Ritter, the Pioneers were ready to add to their lead. Thomson hit a double down the right-field line to score Gonzaga for the second time in the afternoon. Davis then hit a 2 RBI triple before Bass hit an RBI single through the right side to extend the lead to 6-0 after two.
 
The Bruins scored two unearned runs to pull within 6-2 in the fourth inning. Lewis & Clark got those runs back in the fifth when Gonzaga hit his first collegiate home run, a two-RBI shot to left field, to go up 8-2 with one out.
 
Savant singled up the middle on the next at-bat to attempt to keep the run going. Thomson then hit a fly ball to left field that looked as if it might drop. The Bruins Gee made a diving attempt at the ball, but there was no signal from the umpires. Savant was caught in between first and second, and the Bruins threw to first for what they thought was a double play. After a long meeting on the field, the umpire crew determined that both Savant and Thomson were safe. At a second meeting, the crew called Thomson out and placed Savant on second to continue the inning. Davis hit a single to center field to advance Savant to third, but the Bruins struck out Bass to end the wild inning.
 
George Fox scored three more unearned runs in their next at-bat to pull within 8-5 after six.
 
Davis was moved to the mound in the ninth for the Pioneers to close out the Bruins. He retired all three batters he faced with a fly out, strike out, and a fly out to earn the third save of his career. Ritter earned the win to stay a perfect 5-0 with eight hits, five unearned runs, and two strikeouts.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• From the game against Willamette on April 8 to today, Ritter pitched eight consecutive scoreless innings.
• Thomson moved into a three-way tie for second place with his 56th-scored run this season. He has matched his total from last year and is also tied with Justin Baughman, who scored 56 in 1995.
• The NWC started their postseason tournament in 2015, and this is Lewis & Clark's first appearance.
• Clerici's sixth save today puts him second on the program season record top-10, behind his eight saves last year.
• The Pioneers' 25 wins this season are tied for the fifth most in program history, and their 14 conference wins are the most since 1987.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark hosts George Fox Sunday for their regular season finale. The first pitch is scheduled for noon at Huston Sports Complex. They will honor 11 seniors 30 minutes prior to the start of the game.