Freshman Blast Helps Boxers Split With Occidental
Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Freshman
Megan Winans (Fr., Hood River, Ore.) belted a game-winning blast to help the Boxers split 3-2 and 7-6 with Occidental at Bell Field on Sunday afternoon.
Game 2
In the top of the seventh inning, with one out, Winans came to the plate after a double by
Jessie Moore (Fr., Portland, Ore.) Winans took the ball straight back up over centerfield to take a 7-6 lead over the Tigers.
Occidental (3-1) took an early lead in the second inning, scoring five runs off starter
Sara Aasness (Jr., Kirkland, Wash.). The junior transfer pitched three-up-three-down first inning, but allowed five runs on five hits in the bottom of the second.
The Boxers got on the board in the third inning. With one out,
Marissa Reichard (Fr., Forest Grove, Ore.) singled to centerfield. She stole second with two outs.
Emmie Moser (Fr., Mt. Vernon, Wash.) took four balls and walked to first. The Tigers intentionally walked Moore to bring Winans up to bat. Winans watched four balls go by and the Boxers cut the Tiger lead to 5-1.
In the fourth inning, the Boxers added four runs to tie the game up.
Quirena Natividad (Fr., Waipahu, Hawaii) singled to right field to start the inning. She advanced to second on
MacKenzie LaMotte's (So., Hillsboro, Ore.) groundout to the first base.
Kaitlyn Shikada (So., Honolulu, Hawaii) reached first on the catcher's interference. The Tigers changed pitchers, but Reichard took advantage as she sent one out to centerfield to score Natividad on a sacrifice fly.
Rachel Roberts (Fr., Oregon City, Ore.) singled to the shortstop, which advanced Shikada to second. Moser drove in Shikada with a double to centerfield. Moore then drove in Roberts with a single down the leftfield line.
Aasness held the Tigers the next inning, but gave up a home run to the Tigers in the bottom of the sixth inning, putting the Tigers ahead 6-5. The Boxers came back in the top of the seventh after Moore double to left field and Winans connected for her second home run of the day to take the Boxers lead 7-6. Aasness recorded three outs, striking out the first batter, forcing the second batter to ground out and striking out the last batter to collect the victory.
Aasness (1-1) collected her first victory of the season, going the seven-inning distance while striking out six, walking just one and allowing seven hits. Moser, Moore and Winans led the Boxers at the plate going 2 for 3.
Game 1
The Boxers were hitless until the fifth inning when Natividad singled in the infield.
Nalani Antonio (Fr., Kapolei, Hawaii) singled to right field to advance Natividad to second. Natividad stole third before Moser came in to pinch hit for Roberts and singled to left field to take a 1-0 lead over the Tigers.
Occidental scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth after three hits after
Jenn Yano (So., Ontario, Ore.) came in to relieve Rechard. The Boxers came back in the sixth after Winans tied the game up with her first blast of the day with two outs.
The Boxers tried to score in the seventh, but only came up with one hit and left two runners on base. The Tigers opened the bottom of the seventh, reaching on an error. Barron tripled to left field to score the runner from first to secure the victory.
Moser was 1 for 1 and
Maddie Collura (Jr., Phoeniz, Ariz.), Winans and Natividad were all 1 for 3. Moser and Winans picked up an RBI. Yano (0-2) suffered her second loss of the season, allowing two runs in two innings of work. Reichard tallied three strikeouts and two walks with one earned run in 4.1 innings of work.
The Boxers improved to 1-3 on the season. They will play their first home game of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 13 against Northwest Christian. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. Live stats will be available at goboxers.com.
