Box Score, Gm. 1
Box Score, Gm. 2
FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The Pacific and Whitworth softball teams waited out two separate rain delays, but were eventually able to complete their Northwest Conference doubleheader at Sherman/Larkins Stadium Sunday.
The Boxers hit back-to-back-to-back doubles in a three-run third inning and held on for a 4-3 victory in game one. In game two, the Pirates strung together four hits in the first inning, including the first of two triples in the game by catcher Jo Ross to lead wire-to-wire for a 6-3 win. The teams played four games over the weekend with the host Boxers taking three to run their NWC record to 6-6 and overall mark to 8-12. The Pirates stand at 2-10 in conference and 4-14 overall after Sunday's doubleheader split.
Chelsey Chamberlain (Sr., Grants Pass, Ore.) earned the win in game one and followed a one-out double by
Jenna Stevens (So., Medford, Ore.) with a towering RBI double to the wall in left center to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third.
Lauren Tuey (Sr., Redlands, Calif.) followed with a double down the right field line, but pinch runner
Randee Layosa (So., Lihue, Hawaii) was held up at second base. After
Jordan Mittelsdorf (Sr., Boardman, Ore.) popped out to second, Pirates pitcher Jo Ross coaxed a grounder to second base from
Ashley Billingsley (Sr., Gresham, Ore.). Sami Parr's throw to first base was wild allowing two runs to score, giving the Boxers a 4-1 lead.
Jamie Brunner got one run back fot the visitors with an RBI double in the fifth, scoring Parr, who had reached on an error. Chamberlain gave way to reliever
Shannon Miller (So., Vancouver, Wash.), who walked Julia Johnson to put the tying run aboard, but got out of the jam by inducing a comebacker off the bat of Heather Hesselgesser to end the inning.
Ross hit the first of her three triples on the day with one out in the sixth and scored on Hanna Boyd's base hit to make it 4-3 Pacific. After Caylon Haehl bunted Boyd to second, Parr hit a grounder off the glove of second baseman
Kaitlyn Shikada (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii). Boyd tried to score from second base, but Shikada recovered and gunned down the tying run at the plate to end the inning and preserve the one-run lead.
Chloe Hanson (Fr., Trail, Ore.) took over in the circle in the seventh inning and surrendered a two-out base hit to Johnson, but fanned Hesselgesser to earn the save. Chamberlain went 4 2/3 innings, striking out five with two walks, four hits and no earned runs allowed. Pirates' pitchers Ross and Taylor Gilbert limited the Boxers to just four hits, but three of them were consecutive doubles in the third inning. Ross took the loss, while Gilbert tossed 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief with one strikeout and one walk.
Tuey went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI and run scored and Stevens was 1 for 2 with a double and scored two runs. The game was delayed 30 minutes by rain in the second inning and then again for 21 minutes in the fourth.
In game two, Chamberlain returned to the circle and got the first two Pirates batters to pop out harmlessly to the infield. Jamie Brunner followed with a single, the first of four consecutive hits for Whitworth as the Pirates grabbed an early 3-0 lead. Julia Johnson hit a fly ball to the warning track in left center field that dropped between
Nikki King (Fr., Medical Lake, Wash.) and
Kiera Melton (Fr., Pleasanton, Calif.) for an RBI double. After Hesselgesser plated Johnson with a base hit, Ross followed with an RBI triple to left center.
Down 4-0 in the fourth inning, the Boxers rallied by putting the first four runners on base. After Jenny Yano (Fr., Ontario, Ore.) roped an RBI single to center field to score Layosa, the Pirates made a change at pitcher, replacing the starter Gilbert with Riley Fritz. Shikada followed with a dribbler to third for an infield hit to load the bases and Melton bounced a grounder to the right side to bring home Billingsley from third to make it 4-2 Whitworth. With the tying runs in scoring position and one out, Stevens walked to load the bases, bringing up King, who hit a line drive to second base for an out. Yano broke from third to home and was caught off for an inning-ending double play.
The Bucs added to their lead in the fifth when Ross greeted Pacific's third pitcher of the game, Miller, with a leadoff triple, later scoring on Hanna Boyd's base hit. After a bunt single by Haehl put runners on first and second with one out, the Pirates ran themselves out of the inning, as Boxer catcher Mittelsdorf gunned down pinch runner Payton McMahon at third trying steal, then did the same to Haehl for the final out of the inning.
Sascha Clow blasted a one-out solo home run over the foul pole in left field to give the Pirates a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning, but Pacific threatened to come back in the bottom of the frame. Shikada lashed a leadoff double down the left field line, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on King's one-out base hit. With runners on first and second and one out and Chamberlain due up, Whitworth manager Cristal Brown went to the bullpen, returning the starting pitcher Gilbert to the circle. The move was well timed, as Chamberlain looked at three strikes, fanning on a pitch on the inside corner at the knees. Tuey bounced out to end the inning.
Mittelsdorf singled off Gilbert to open the seventh and Billingsley followed with a grounder deep in the hole at short. Haehl made a superlative play to field the ball and throw out Mittelsdorf at second for the force, one of two great plays the Bucs' shortstop made in the hole in the game. Gilbert retired Yano and Shikada back-to-back to finish the game and salvage a win for the Pirates in the final game of the four-game series.
Gilbert earned credit for the win by saving her own game, allowing five hits and two runs earned with two strikeouts and two walks over a total of 4 2/3 innings. Johnson reached base four times, going 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI. Hesselgesser and Ross also had two hits, an RBI and run scored each. The Pirates had 11 hits and left 10 runners on base in game two.
The Boxers rapped out eight hits, but left 11 on the bases. Stevens, batting leadoff for the first time all season, reached base all four times with three walks and a base hit to lead off the game. Shikada went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.
The Boxers entertain undefeated Linfield next Saturday, March 17 with a doubleheader starting at noon at Sherman/Larkins Stadium.
