FOREST GROVE – With a pair of home victories on Sunday, the Pacific softball team completed a season sweep of the Willamette Bearcats as the Boxers won 3-1 and 6-5 on the day.
 
Kylee Oshiro (Sr., Aiea, Hawaii) was one of three Boxers with two hits in the opener, as the catcher drove in the Boxers' first run of the afternoon. The second game saw Kylee Yamamoto (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii) finish 3-3 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI.
 
The Boxers continue home action on Friday with a 4 p.m. scheduled first pitch against Lewis & Clark.
 
Game One: Pacific 3, Willamette 1
A two-run fifth inning provided Pacific with the game-winner in game one on Sunday as the Boxers topped the Bearcats 3-1.
 
After two scoreless innings, the Bearcats put a run on the board in the top of the third when Danielle Saunders walked and Jenna King reached on an error to lead off the inning. A two out double to left center by Myranda Ramirez plated Willamette's first run as Saunders scored, while King was thrown out at the plate off a relay from Ashley Mitchell (Jr., Redmond, Wash.).
 
Following the final out of the inning, Pacific opened the bottom half of the inning with a one out bunt single by Rachel Roberts (Jr., Oregon City, Ore.). Following a stolen base by Roberts, Jessica Hotaling (Jr., Oregon City, Ore.) beat out an infield single and allowed for Roberts to reach third safely.
 
With runners on the corners and two outs, Oshiro singled through the left side to tie the game at 1-1 before the inning ended.
 
Neither team could take advantage of base runners over the next inning and a half, until Roberts led the fifth inning off with a single through the right side. An error put Hotaling on first and pushed Roberts to second. A fielders choice loaded the bases for Pacific as Mitchell reached first before a second fielders choice kept the bases loaded as Oshiro reached first as Roberts was thrown out at the plate.
 
The Boxers plated its first run of the inning as Yamamoto reached on a fielding error as Hotaling scampered home. The second run of the frame came on a two-out single from Kaitlyn Shikada (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii) scored Mitchell.
 
Marissa Reichard (Jr., Forest Grove, Ore.) earned the victory for Pacific as she escaped the sixth and seventh unscathed.
 
Game Two: Pacific 6, Willamette 5
Yamamoto was a perfect 3-3 at the plate in game two, while Shikada finished with two runs batted in as the Boxers defeated the Bearcats 6-5.
 
Pacific jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning after Roberts singled and Reichard walked to open the inning. A one-out walk to Oshiro loaded the bases for Yamamoto, who singled through the left side to score Roberts. Margaret Bachmeier (So., Newberg, Ore.) continued the inning for the Boxers with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Reichard.
 
Nalani Antonio (Jr., Kapolei, Hawaii) walked to reload the bases for Pacific before advancing to second on a single down the left field line by Shikada, which scored Oshiro and Yamamoto. Antonio would score as Jordan Schmerbauch (So., Mililani, Hawaii) reached on a field error and Shikada raced to third, before scoring the sixth run of the inning on a passed ball.
 
Willamette looked to chip away at the Pacific lead with a single run in the second, before adding two more in the fifth.
 
The Bearcats kept the game interesting in the seventh when Ashley Pender delivered a two-run homer to pull within a run of Pacific, but Hotaling forced a pop-up from the next batter for the second out and retired Erin Norris for the third out after two Bearcats had reached base.
 
Hotaling struck out two hitters as she picked up her sixth victory of the season in the circle.