The Pacific softball team welcomed fellow Northwest Conference team Willamette to town on Saturday for a non-conference double-header and the Boxers not only had to battle the Bearcats but the Mother Nature, also with several rain delays.
Ultimately the boxers claimed a pair of victories 9-6 and 11-6 to improve to .500 on the season at 4-4.
Game one featured plenty of offense between both teams with 20-plus hits in the contest and it also feature three rain delays stretching the game out over a four-hour span. Boxers got on the board early in the first capitalizing on a pair of Bearcat errors in the bottom the first to plate three runs and lead 3-0. An RBI singles by Nicole Martitnez added a run in the second and third innings, while a two RBI single in the third by
Jayden Sykes made it a three bottom of the third for the Boxers. Willamette tallied a run in the second and two in the third but after three innings Pacific led 7-3. A pair of RBI singles in thte bottom of the sixth helped provide assurance for the Boxers as they claimed game one 9-6.
Martinez paced a 14-hit attack for the Boxers as she was 3-5 with two RBI's, while
Montana Vaught,
Hailey Miller and
Sydney Sahlfeld each recorded two hits. Tossing three and two-thirds innings of relief
Nykki Wada earned the win in the circle giving up just one run during her time in the contest.
It was plenty of offense again for the Boxers in game two of the day and it was spread out through the game. Using RBI hits from
Kiana Kushiyama and
Montana Vaught in the bottom of the first the Boxers scored three runs to take the early lead again. Willamette answered with scoring five runs in the top of the second and another in the third but a run in the bottom of the second and third innings for the Boxers tied the game at 5-5 after three innings. It remained tied until the bottom of the fifth when
Michelle Winfield and Vaught each recorded RBI singles and Kushiyama had an RBI triple to score three runs. Three more runs were added by Pacifc in the bottom of the sixth to claim the 11-6 win.
Martinez and Kushiyama each went 3-5 for in the game with two runs scored each, while Martinez had two RBI's and Kushiyama had three. Miller and
Marcee Nakamura each added a three-hit performance and Vaught went 2-4 with two RBI.
Kylee Ancheta-Maeda earned the win in the circle tossing three innings of relief giving up no runs on just three hits.
Boxers are back in action at home again Saturday and Sunday, March 13th and 14th as they will host Pacific Lutheran for a non-conference double-header each day.
