PORTLAND, Ore. — It seemed like deja vu all over again for the Pacific softball team on Saturday, as they were topped twice by Lewis & Clark by the identical score of 9-6.
With the twin killing, the Pioneers now have twin .500 records of 17-17 overall and 11-11 in Northwest Conference play. The Boxers fell to 19-14-1 on the year and are now also 11-11 in league action. The Boxers and Pioneers, along with Pacific Lutheran, are in a three-way tie for fourth place.
Early in game one at Huston Field, everything was going Pacific's way. The Boxers scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead.
Kylee Yamamoto tripled home a run in the third and
Megan Winans plated a score with a double in the fifth.
Meanwhile, pitcher
Marissa Reichard was her usual dominate self. She had given up only two hits through four innings and still no runs through the fifth. But in the sixth, the doors blew off the building.
Emily Drevdahl got the Pioneers on the board with a solo home run, but that was only the beginning. Seven hits and a pair of Boxer errors followed, and after 14 L&C batters had made their way to the plate, the game was reversed and the hosts had a 9-3 lead.
The Boxers made a comeback effort in the seventh, started by
Ashley Mitchell's home run.
Nalani Antonio had a single, and that combined with walks and a hit batter, Pacific put three runs on the board, but it wouldn't be enough.
Rachel Roberts,
Kaitlynn Donaca and Mitchell had two hits each in the game to lead the Boxers.
In the nightcap the Boxers came out with a vengeance, scoring five runs in the top of the first. Roberts got things going with a hit and stolen base, while Yamamoto and
Emily Tesdale added two-run and RBI doubles respectively.
But the Pioneers answered with four runs in the bottom half of the first and added two more in the second to take a 6-5 lead. The Boxer would tie the game in the sixth after
Quirena Natividad doubled and scored on an error, but the bottom half of the sixth would prove to be fateful again as L&C added three scores on three hits to cement the victory.
Alyssa Burns came out of the bullpen to keep things close for the Boxers, but she was tagged with the loss despite giving up only one earned run in 5.2 innings of work. Robert had two hits to the lead the offense for Pacific, who had seven hits total in the game. Mitchell's home run was her ninth of the season.
The two clubs will play games three and four of the series on Sunday at Huston Field. Start time is noon.
