CLAREMONT, Calif. — Pacific won an eight-inning international tie-breaker 3-2 and then settled for a 1-1 draw in the nightcap during a non-conference softball doubleheader on Saturday at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Boxers remain unbeaten after the odd day at 5-0-1, while the Athenas fell to 3-2-1. The second game of the day was called due to darkness at Athena Field.
Darkness brought to a close six games in three days for the Boxers in warm southern California weather. Both games today had plenty of tension throughout.
In the first game, the Boxers scored in the top of the eighth inning and then cut off the Athenas in the bottom half. In the international tie-breaker, a runner is placed on second to begin the inning.
Ashley Mitchell was the runner, and she promptly moved up to third on a wild pitch.
Nalani Antonio's sacrifice fly brought Mitchell home with what would prove to be the winning run, but not without drama in the CMS's half.
The Athenas had runners at second and third with one out, before Pacific hurler
Marissa Reichard got the final two outs via pop up and ground out.
Earlier, Pacific built a 2-0 lead. In the second, Mitchell doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch. In the Boxer fourth,
Quirena Natividad singled, moved to second on Mitchell's sacrifice and scored on
Emily Tesdale's single up the middle.
But CMS answered with Alexa Hayden's RBI single in the fourth and Carly Rolede's triple and Boxer error in the sixth.
Both teams got out of jams in the seventh inning, forcing the extra stanza.
Reichard went the distance in the pitcher's circle to get the win and improve to 3-0 on the season. She went eight innings, gave up seven hits, two runs, walked two and fanned five.
Rachel Roberts had three hits to pace the offense, Natividad, Mitchell and Tesdale had two hits each.
In the second game, the Boxers picked up an unearned run in the third inning and that 1-0 lead held until the fifth when Rolede tripled home a run to tie it at 1-1.
Alyssa Burns worked the first 4.2 innings for the Boxers, giving up only three hits and the one run, but she walked five batters.
Allie Sims came on in relief and worked out of jams that she created with five walks of her own in the sixth and seventh innings. The Athenas had the bases loaded in the sixth and had runners on third twice in the seventh. Third baseman Natividad's throw to the plate cut down the potential winning run in the seventh, and a ground out ended the game.
Reichard served as the DP in the second game and had Pacific's only two hits.
The Boxers will now return home and play British Columbia and Northwest Christian next Saturday a the Northwest Cup at Hood View Park (Happy Valley), and will then play Corban in Salem on Sunday.
