Boxers Outlast Lutes In High-Scoring Softball Marathon

Boxers Outlast Lutes In High-Scoring Softball Marathon

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Box Score

TACOMA, Wash. – Forty-two runs on 32 hits with eight errors, five doubles, two home runs, six stolen bases and 116 batters to the plate.  And Pacific and Pacific Lutheran still needed extra innings to decide it.
 
Pacific scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to break a 16-16 tie Saturday, only to hold off a three-run rally by PLU in the home half of the frame to pull off a 23-19 win over the Lutes in a 3 hour, 55 minute Northwest Conference softball game at the PLU Field.
 
The Boxers had to come back from behind to get in position to force extra innings, coming back from a 6-2 deficit with a nine-run fourth inning.  Pacific had a 16-15 lead in the seventh, but the Lutes converted an error into a run to move the game into the eighth.
 
Because of the length of the opener, the second game of the doubleheader was suspended at the end of the third inning due to darkness (PLU's field does not have lights).  Pacific led 2-1.  The game will be continued when the two teams meet in Forest Grove on Apr. 6.
 
Ashley Mitchell (So., Redmond, Wash.) had an impressive day at the plate, going 3 for 6 with two runs, a double, a home run and six RBIs.  Rachel Roberts (So., Oregon City, Ore.) went 3 for 6 with four runs and four stolen bases.  Becca Moen (Sr., Gresham, Ore.) and Kylee Yamamoto (So., Mililani, Hawaii) also had three-hit afternoons.
 
With the win, Pacific improved to 6-1 overall, 1-0 NWC.  Pacific Lutheran dropped to 1-4, 0-1 NWC.
 
PLU opened the game by scoring one run in the first without the benefit of a hit, with two hitters reaching on walks and two on hit batsmen.  The Boxers took the run back in the second on Kaitlyn Shikada's (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii) double that scored Emmie Moser (So., Mt. Vernon, Wash), but the Lutes added two more in the home half of RBI singles by Kelsey Robin and Lindsey Mats.
 
Pacific plated one in the third, but the Lutes rallied again to score three in the home half, two on a two-run single by Spencer Sherwin. 
 
Yamamoto opened the Boxers' nine-run fourth when her single to center field scored Shikada.  Moen followed with a two-run homer.  The next three batters all reached base, chasing starter Samantha Boe from the game.  Moser met reliever Leah Butters with a sacrifice fly to score Roberts.  Two batters later, Mitchell drove in two on her single to center field and Shikada punctuated the frame with a three-run homer to left field.
 
The 11-6 lead was far from safe, though, as the Lutes scored five in the home half of the fourth to tie it.  Amanda Hartl opened scoring when she drew a bases laded walk an Sherwin cleared the bases with a three-run triple down the right field line.  Sherwin later scored by way of an error.
 
The two teams matched each other in the fifth and the Lutes took the lead in the sixth to go up 15-14.  Mitchell put Pacific back ahead with one swing in the top of the seventh, hammering a two-run homer to center field.  PLU, however, gained life when Emily McConn singled, advanced to second on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kelsey Robin.
 
Pacific's first three batters reached base in the seventh before Quirena Natividad (So., Waipahu, Hawaii) scored two on her double to right center field.  A series of three more walks scored one more before Mitchell added a two-run double to left center field.  Moen closed out the seven-run frame with the third bases loaded walk of the inning.
 
The Lutes would charge hard in the home half of the eighth.  The first three batters reached base and McConn drew a bases loaded walk to score Tori Hamura.  Robin added a two-run single to left center field before reliever Maddie Collura (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) coaxed Katie Lowery into a ground out to put the game to a long-awaited end.
 
Allie Sims (Fr., Puyallup, Wash.) earned her fourth win for the Boxers in long relief, allowing 13 runs, 12 earned, on nine hits with seven walks in 4.2 innings.  Starter Sara Aasness (Sr., Kirkland, Wash.) allowed six runs, four earned, on three hits in 2.1 innings while Collura allowed one hit in her one inning of relief.  Leah Butters took the loss for PLU, allowing 12 runs, 11 earned, on 11 hits with five walks and a strikeout in 3.2 innings of relief.
 
Pacific returns to action on Sunday, playing a doubleheader at Puget Sound.
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