NEWBERG, Ore. - George Fox University pounded 22 hits to outscore visiting Whitworth University 16-5 in the opening game of a Northwest Conference baseball series on Saturday afternoon at Morse Field. The second game was suspended by darkness in the middle of the sixth inning with the host Bruins leading 11-4.

George Fox 16, Whitworth 5 (box score)

Whitworth was never in the game on Saturday. The Bruins jumped to a 4-0 lead after the first inning against Pirate starting pitcher Chad Flett, then added one more in the fourth off of Flett, who allowed five runs on six hits in his four innings of work.

After a rain delay of one hour and 51 minutes, the Bruins broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth with five more runs. They added two more in the sixth and four in the seventh.

Whitworth finally got on the board in the top of the seventh. Trailing 12-0, the Pirates added a pair on a ground ball by Matt Monahan and a double by Dan Belet. Whitworth scored three more in the eighth inning. Ben Price doubled home the first run, and Mac Collette brought home the second with a sacrifice fly. Monahan's RBI single drove home the third run.

Belet and Collette each had two hits and an RBI for the Pirates, while Collette drove in two runs.

Whitworth and George Fox will complete the suspended game on Sunday, beginning at 10:00 am. Then the teams will play the regularly scheduled doubleheader.