NEWBERG, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College baseball rallied for a game one victory and shut the door on a George Fox rally in game two, to earn their first Northwest Conference doubleheader sweep of the season on Saturday at the Morse Athletic Fields. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 10, George Fox 8
Lewis & Clark 7, George Fox 2
(Lewis & Clark 14-13, NWC 7-7) 
(George Fox 11-16, NWC 5-11) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Sophomore Michael Aikawa drove in a pair of runs in both games including a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the sixth in game one to help Lewis & Clark overcome an early 7-3 deficit. Aikawa finished the day 3-9 with two runs, four RBI and a triple. 
 
The Pioneers put together strong pitching performances all day long as they allowed just seven earned runs across the two games. Sophomore Caden Hodina went 6+ innings in game two and allowed two runs to move to 4-1. The Pioneers bullpen combined to allow just one run in 6.1 innings across the two games.
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
The Pioneers used a five-run top of the sixth inning to erase a four-run deficit and Justin Frohn and Nate Kerr closed the door, to help Lewis & Clark get back to .500 overall. 
 
Brennen Davis, Joaquin Sandoval and Justin Cavagnaro all finished with two hits to lead Lewis & Clark offensively. Davis went 2-5 with two runs, two RBI and a homer. Sandoval added two hits in three at-bats, two RBI, two walks and a double. Cavagnaro chipped in two hits and two runs. 
 
Senior Luke Ritter improved to 4-1 after allowing seven hits, four walks and seven runs (four earned). He struck out three to earn his third win in his last four starts. 
 
Frohn came on for 0.2 innings and allowed a hit, two walks and a run. Kerr pitched the final 2.2 innings and gave up one hit and struck out two to earn his team-leading third save. 
 
George Fox jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first thanks to three-straight hits. 
 
The Pioneers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth. Sandoval worked a lead-off walk but was erased on an Aikawa fielder's choice. Aikawa moved to second on a wild pitch with two down and raced home on a Will Heron RBI single. Davis stepped to the plate and crushed a two-run homer to make it 3-2.  
 
The hosts responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning on three hits and an error. With two down and two runs already in, Gabe DeBenedetto hit a three-run homer to make it 7-3. 
 
Lewis & Clark shaved the deficit by one run in the fifth. Bret Potter opened the inning with a hit by pitch, took second on an Eli Steinhaus second bunt, scampered to third on a wild pitch and easily scored on a Sandoval two-out, RBI double. 
 
The Pioneers took the lead for good in the sixth. Cavagnaro led off with a walk and Davis singled with one down. The Pioneers loaded the bases on a two-out, Potter hit by pitch. Steinhaus brought the first run in with a bases-loaded walk. After a pitching change, Brandon Gonazaga and Sandoval worked two more bases-loaded walks to tie the game at seven. Aikawa belted a two-run single to left to score Steinahaus and Gonzaga. 
 
George Fox made it 9-8 in the seventh when they recorded a sacrifice fly but Kerr induced a groundout back to the mound to leave a runner on second. 
 
Lewis & Clark added an insurance run in the ninth. Cavagnaro walked, stole second and raced home on a Potter RBI single. 
 
Kerr retired the Bruins in order in the eighth and ninth, including back-to-back strikeouts looking to end the game. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Hodina kept the Bruins bats in check and Aikawa came through with a two-run triple to blow the game open in the fifth inning. 
 
Hodina struck out three over 6+ innings and allowed six hits, three walks and two runs. Buchinder came on with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh and allowed only one runner to score. He pitched the final nine outs to earn his first collegiate save. 
 
Offensively, Aikawa, Sandoval and Steinhaus each had two hits to lead the side. Aikawa went 2-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Sandoval registered two hits and a run scored and Steinhaus went 2-4 with two runs scored. Gonzaga finished 1-4 with two runs, two RBI and a home run. 
 
The Bruins jumped out to another early lead with a single run in the second. They had runner at second and third with one out but Hodina struck out two of the next three batters to keep the score at 1-0. 
 
Lewis & Clark took the lead for good in the third. Potter walked, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a Steinhaus bunt single. After Steinhaus stole second, Gonzaga tied the game with an RBI groundout and Sandoval plated Steinhaus with an RBI single. 
 
The visitors made it 5-1 in the fifth. Steinhaus opened the frame with a single and raced to third when the Bruins misplayed a Gonzaga grounder. With one down, Aikawa tripled to center field to score both runners. Aikawa raced home on a strikeout that got away from the Bruins catcher. 
 
George Fox had their best chance to rally in the seventh. Hodina walked the opening batter and was replaced by first year Matt Stanislavsky. He walked the next two batters to load the bases. Buchbinder came on and retired the first batter on a foul out and the next two on ground outs to keep the Pioneers ahead 5-2. 
 
Lewis & Clark made it 6-2 in the eighth when Gavin Mangano drove in Cavagnaro with an RBI single. The Pioneers added a final insurance run in the ninth when Gonzaga hit his second home run of the week. 
 
Buchbinder allowed just one baserunner over the final two innings to seal the win. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark secured their second-straight NWC series win and moved to .500 in conference play for the first time since they were 1-1. The Pioneers (7-7) are currently in sixth place in the NWC Standings just one game back of Puget Sound (8-6) and a half-game back of Willamette (8-7). 
• The Pioneers racked up 22 hits, 17 runs, nine walks and four extra-base hits on Saturday. It was just the second time all season Lewis & Clark posted double-digit hits in back-to-back games. 
• Ritter went over 200 career innings pitched (202.2) in game one. He moved into a tie for fourth in program history in career strikeouts with 171. 
• The Pioneers have won four of their past five to move back above .500 overall (14-13). Lewis & Clark hasn't been multiple games over .500 since they were 5-3 after game one on March 2. 
• Davis moved into a tie for third all-time in program history with his 26^th career home run. He matched Bob D'Aboy (1981-84), Chris Dutton (86-87) and former teammate Luke Bass (2021-24). 
• Lewis & Clark posted their first NWC doubleheader sweep since taking both games from Whitworth last season in a home doubleheader on April 20. 
• Gonzaga has hit three career home runs and two of them have come at George Fox. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will look to complete the three-game series sweep on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for Noon.