SPOKANE, Wash. - Pacific senior second baseman
Rachel Roberts hit three home runs, including a grand slam and
Ashley Mitchell added two more round trippers to help the Boxers gain a doubleheader split with conference-leading Whitworth on Saturday at the Diana Marks Softball Field.
The Boxers rolled to a 9-2 win in the first game but the Pirates came from behind to win the nightcap, 4-3. Whitworth is now 17-6 on the season and 9-3 in the Northwest Conference. Pacific moves to 17-10-1 overall and to 9-7 in conference action.
The visitors lost the second game in heartbreaking fashion, as the Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to steal the victory and avoid the series split. Whitworth also won both games on Friday.
Pacific's 9-2 win in the first game looked to be anything but a run-fest for the Boxers early on. Through the first four innings of play, the game was scoreless. The Boxers had just two hits, and the Pirates had yet to scratch out anything against Boxer ace
Marissa Reichard.
But in the fifth, Pacific broke the game open.
Caitlyn Ramiscal singled,
Quirena Natividad doubled and
Nalani Antonio was hit by a pitch to put ducks on the pond for Roberts. The senior second baseman promptly homered, driving in four runs and giving the Boxers all the scores they would need in this one.
Whitworth finally got their first hit and run in the fifth inning, but Pacific added two more runs in the top of the sixth via solo home runs by
Ashley Mitchell and Natividad. The visitors added insurance counters in the seventh inning with Mitchell's two-run double and a RBI-single off the bat of
Kylee Yamamoto.
Mitchell finished the game with a pair of hits and three RBI, hitting a double and home run. Roberts had three hits, including the grand slam of course. Natividad went 3-for-3, scored twice and had a double and home run. Pacific had 12 hits in the game.
Reichard improved to 11-4 on the season, going the seven innings and allowing six hits, one earned run, one walk and she fanned three Pirates.
In the nightcap, Roberts continued her torrid hitting pace, leading off the game with a home run. She would add another solo shot in the third inning to give her team a 2-1 lead.
Whitworth tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, using four singles against Reichard to push across a run (2-2). That's where the score would stay until Mitchell added her second roundtripper of the day in the top of the sixth, giving the Boxers a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Michelle Silva tripled for the Pirates, but Reichard stranded her at third. After the Boxers left two runners on base in the top of the seventh, the Boxers were just three outs away from gaining the series split.
But Reichard ran out of gas in the bottom of the seventh--she had also pitched a complete game on Friday. Four Pirates singled to tie the game and then on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, Shannon Wessel coaxed a walk out of Reichard, to walk off with the win.
Trisha Snydar joined Roberts as a hitting star in the second game, going 3-for-4. Chelsey Hayes had four hits for the Pirates and Myranda Ramirez had three, including a double. That two-bagger was the only extra-base hit off of Reichard in the game.
The Boxers will return home next Saturday and Sunday to host George Fox in a pair of doubleheaders. Start time for both at Sherman/Larkins Stadium will be noon.
