Box Score
FOREST GROVE – The Pacific softball team saw its losing streak extend to nine games, falling twice to visiting Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference twi-night doubleheader at Sherman/Larkins Stadium on Friday.
The No. 6-ranked Lutes shut out the Boxers 8-0 in six innings in game one before polishing off a season sweep with an 11-2, 5-inning victory in game two. Both games ended early via the 8-run mercy rule. With the victories, the Lutes kept pace with NWC-leading Linfield, improving to 16-4 in conference and 26-10 overall, while remaining three games behind the Wildcats in the standings in second place. The Boxers dropped to 6-14 and 8-20 with the losses, pushing them further away from playoff contention as they remain 5 ½ games out of fourth place.
In game one, starting pitcher Stacey Hagensen (11-2) pitched six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks with two strikeouts to get the win. Hagensen pitched out of jams in the first and sixth innings to notch her third shutout of the season. Meanwhile, her counterpart in the circle, Pacific's
Chloe Hanson (Fr., Trail, Ore.), was making her first appearance in several weeks. Hanson (4-5) breezed through the first two innings by retiring six straight batters before the Lutes had a few seeing-eye singles to plate a run in the third inning.
Pacific Lutheran's first solid shot of the game came off the bat of Kaaren Hatlen, who led off the fourth inning with a double down the right field line. Amanda Hall drove in pinch-running Spencer Sherwin with a single to left to make it 2-0 Lutes. After a ground out, Lindsey Matsunaga singled and Glenelle Nitta was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After Haley Harshaw's ground out scored Lowery with the second run of the inning, Amanda Goings followed with a 2-RBI single up the middle to open up a 5-0 lead for the visitors, ending Hanson's day. In her longest pitching stint in weeks, the freshman right hander surrendered five runs, all earned, on seven hits, several of the bloop and bleed variety.
Hall drove in PLU's sixth run with a solo home run to center field off reliever
Shannon Miller (So., Vancouver, Wash.) in the fifth inning, then added her third RBI of the day with a single in the sixth, finishing 3 for 4 at the plate to lead the Lutes. Nitta scored a pair of runs, going 1 for 2. Goings and Matsunaga each had a pair of hits and a run scored as the Lutes collected 13 hits off two Boxer pitchers.
Pacific put runners on second and third base with two outs in the first inning, but Hagensen struck out
Jordan Mittelsdorf (Sr., Boardman, Ore.) to end the threat. The Boxers threatened to extend the game after loading the bases with nobody out in the sixth after three straight singles by
Jenna Stevens (So., Medford, Ore.),
Becca Moen (So., Gresham, Ore.) and
Chelsey Chamberlain (Sr., Grants Pass, Ore.) but
Lauren Tuey (Sr., Redlands, Ore.) popped out to the pitcher and Mittelsdorf's line drive led to an inning-ending double play, as the shortstop Matsunaga caught Moen off the bag at second for the final out of the game.
Moen went 3 for 3 with a stolen base and Chamberlain finished 2 for 3 at the plate. The last six batters in the Boxers order went a combined 0 for 14 against Hagensen with only Mittelsdorf reaching base on an error in the fourth inning.
