Boxers Rebound In Second Game To Gain Split With Willamette

Boxers Rebound In Second Game To Gain Split With Willamette

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Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

FOREST GROVE – After being largely kept off the bases in the first game, Pacific rebounded to put together extra base hits in the second game as the Boxers secured a split with Willamette Saturday in Northwest Conference softball action at Sherman/Larkins Stadium.
 
Willamette went off for nine runs in the second and third innings of the opener and limited the Boxers to a three-run second inning as the Bearcats went on to a 12-3, six-inning victory.  In the nightcap, the Boxers relied upon the bat of Kylee Oshiro (Jr., Aiea, Hawaii), whose three-run homer helped the Boxers come back for an 8-6 victory.
 
Quirena Nativdad (So., Waipahu, Hawaii) led the Boxers offensively with three hits in the two games, including a 2 for 3 performance with two RBIs in the second game.  Oshiro went 2 for 4 in the nightcap with a triple, the home run and four RBIs.  Heather Winslow and Jenna King each had four hits in the twinbill for Willamette.
 
With the split, Pacific improved to 8-2 overall, 3-1 NWC.  Willamette dropped to 2-6, 1-5 NWC.
 
GAME 1: WILLAMETTE 12, PACIFIC 3
Willamette needed just a couple of swings of the bat to put together their five-run second inning.  King opened scoring when her bases loaded single scored Alexia Pratt.  Ashley Pender followed with a single through the right side that scored Kayla Rieger and Amanda Absher closed it with a bases-clearing double to right center field.
 
Pacific came back for three runs in the home half of the inning.  Megan Winans (So., Hood River, Ore.) started with a solo home run to right center field.  Ashley Mitchell (So., Redmond, Wash.) added a run, plating when Kiera Melton (Jr., Pleasanton, Calif.) reached on an error and Kaitlyn Shikada (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii) made it 5-3 on Becca Moen's (Sr., Gresham, Ore.) single.
 
The Bearcats added more cushion in the third.  Winslow keyed the four-run frame with her two-run homer.  Mallory Asaro added two more on her single through the left side, scoring Absher and Pender.  Willamette scored one in the fifth and closed it out in the sixth on a two-out, two-RBI single by Winslow.
 
Jade Smith earned her second win of the season for Willamette, allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts in the complete game effort.  Sara Aasness (Sr., Kirkland, Wash.) took her first loss of the season, allowing seven runs on seven hits with five walks and a strikeout in 2.1 innings.  Asaro went 3 for 4 to lead Willamette while seven different players had one hit each for the Boxers.
 
GAME 2: PACIFIC 8, WILLAMETTE 6
Natividad opened scoring for the Boxers in the first inning of the nightcap, reaching on a two-out single and scoring on Oshiro's triple.  The Bearcats, however, tried to douse Pacific's offensive fire with another five-run inning in the third.  Steffany Dunn scored the first run on Kayla Rieger's double.  Pender followed with a single to score Winslow and King plated on a wild pitch.  Erin Norris capped the frame with her two-run double.
 
This time, however, Pacific would not stand idly by.  Oshiro brought the Boxers within one in the home half of the third with her three-run homer to right field.  The Boxers then took the 6-5 lead in the fourth inning when Natividad singled up the middle to score Jordan Schmerbauch (Fr., Mililani, Hawaii) and Moen scored on a passed ball.
 
Willamette made it a 6-6 game in the sixth when Pender hit a solo home run, but the Boxers secured the win with two runs in the home half of the inning.  Moen hit a one-put single, stole second and scored on Rachel Roberts' (So., Oregon City, Ore.) single.  Roberts then scored herself when Natividad reached on error.
 
Allie Sims (Fr., Puyallup, Wash.) improved to 5-0 in the season with the complete game win, allowing six runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts.  Makayla Hari took the loss for Willamette in relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits in the final two innings.
 
Pacific takes to the road again on Sunday, playing a doubleheader at Willamette.  First pitch is scheduled for noon.
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