NEWBERG, Ore. – All nine batters scored in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, and sophomore Nate Kerr pitched a career-high five and two-thirds scoreless innings to record his third win of the season in relief as Lewis & Clark College baseball salvaged their Northwest Conference series against George Fox University with a split in a 9-6 comeback win.
 
THE BASICS
 
George Fox 5, Lewis & Clark 1
Lewis & Clark 9, George Fox 6
(Lewis & Clark 11-11-1, 3-6 NWC)
(George Fox 15-10, 6-6 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Kerr entered the second inning of game two with a runner on, one out and George Fox up 5-0. The reliever retired the next two batters, including striking out the second batter. Kerr gave up only one hit, walked three, and struck out three of the 19 Bruins he faced while throwing a career-high 75 pitches. He became the first pitcher to earn three wins this season.
 
Freshmen Michael Aikawa, Gavin Mangano, and junior Justin Cavagnaro each had two RBIs in the nightcap to lead the Pioneer offense. Aikawa went 4-5 in game two, including RBI singles in the fifth and eighth innings. Mangano (2-5) and Cavagnaro (2-4) each had RBI singles in the Pioneers' 8-run fifth inning.  
 
GAME ONE RECAP
 
The Bruins struck first in game one, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Pioneers responded as senior Jakob Ghammachi and freshmen Bret Potter both singled with one out. Sophomore Joaquin Sandoval was then walked to load the bases, but George Fox retired the next two batters to end the threat.
 
Junior Brennen Davis hit a one-out double to center field in the third to give Lewis & Clark another scoring chance. Senior Luke Bass, in his second game back from injury, drove Davis home with an RBI double to the right to make it 3-1.
 
After a rocky first inning on the mound, freshman Owen Eisen gave up only two hits in the second and third innings. The Bruins singled to start the fourth before Eisen struck out his second batter of the day. The righty hit the next batter, advancing a runner into scoring position, and the Bruins took advantage with an RBI single to go up 4-1.
 
Eisen retired George Fox in order in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Bruins added another run in the sixth.
 
Junior Kyle Wilsie closed out the game for the Pioneers on the mound, giving up only one hit, walking two, and striking out one in two innings of work.   
 
GAME TWO RECAP
 
George Fox scored first in game two, putting up two runs in the first innings and three in the second before Kerr entered the game to quiet their bats. In his first full inning, Kerr got a foul out before the Bruins' Bleu Ellis reached on a fielding error. Ellis was then thrown out by Cavagnaro when he was caught stealing second base. Kerr earned the third out of the third inning by striking out Shane McClendon.
 
Sophomore Brandon Gonzaga got the Pioneers rolling in the fifth inning with a one-out single to center field. Mangano singled and Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases and force the first pitching change of the game for the Bruins.
 
Bass earned the first RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gonzaga and advancing Mangano to third. Junior Will Heron hit a two-out RBI single to score Mangano and pull the Pioneers within 5-2. Ghammachi was walked, loading the bases for the second time in the fifth inning. Aikawa singled to left field to score Davis and trigger the second George Fox pitcher change.
 
Cavagnaro, the ninth batter of the fifth inning, hit a two-RBI single to center field, scoring both Heron and Ghammachi. Senior Jack Savant stepped to the plate for the second time in the inning and earned his first hit of the day, an RBI to right field, while giving Lewis & Clark the 6-5 lead. Gonzaga was hit by a pitch to safely reach base and load the bases again. Mangano made it 8-5 with a two-RBI single to center, forcing the Bruins to change their pitcher for the third time.
 
George Fox's Michael Singleton hit Davis for the second time in the inning, loading the bases again before inducing a groundout to end the inning.     
 
In the top of the eighth inning, Bass hit a one-out single to third immediately after the Bruins changed pitchers. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Heron was walked on a 3-2 pitch to put two Pioneers on base. After a foul out by Ghammachi, Aikawa recorded his fourth hit of the game, a two-out RBI single to center, giving Lewis & Clark a 9-5 lead and adding an insurance run.
 
Pioneers' closer Anthony Clerici started on the mound in the eighth and, after giving up a single, struck out the next two batters. Clerici then walked McClendon before giving up another hit that scored a Bruin run, making it 9-6. The senior struck out the final George Fox batter of the inning looking. He finished with three hits, one run, one walk and three strikeouts in two innings to secure the win for Lewis & Clark.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Aikawa's career-high four hits is tied with Davis for the most hits on the team in a game this season and for the most hits in a game in the NWC.
• In the win, Kerr improved his team leading ERA to 3.80 and team leading opposing batting average to .233.
• The Pioneers' eight runs in the fifth inning of game two is the most runs scored by the team since they scored eight in the sixth inning during a 14-2 win at Pacific Lutheran University on February 19 last season.
• Aikawa has reached base safely in the last 10 games and has the second longest active streak behind Ghammachi's 15 games.
• Kerr has allowed a team low 20 hits and 10 runs in eight appearance this season.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark will play Corban University in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Jerry Gatto Field. The game was originally scheduled to be played this past week on March 26.