PORTLAND, Ore. – After rolling to an 18-3 win in the first game, visiting Whitworth rallied to within 8-7 before dropping the second contest in a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader on Saturday at Lewis & Clark.
The Pirates (24-10 overall, 14-8 NWC) saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end. The Pioneers (12-20, 7-15) kept alive their flickering hopes for making the NWC tournament. The teams will complete the series with a second doubleheader beginning at 11:00 am on Sunday.
Game 1: Whitworth 18, Lewis & Clark 3 (5 innings)
The Pirates scored nine runs in the top of the first and never looked back in the rout of the Pioneers in the series opener.
Nine straight batters reached base and seven runs scored in the top of the first before Whitworth had a single out. Julia Dillon and Heather Menzer had RBI hits for the first two runs and Dillon scored on a passed ball. Jazz Johnson followed with an infield single that scored another run before Mattea Nelson came through with a three-run home run. Rylee Gentner drove in the final two runs of the inning with a double to right center in her second at-bat.
Whitworth added three more in the third and three in the fifth for a 15-1 lead. Delayna Waite had an RBI single in the third and Haley Montoya added an RBI single in the fifth. Both rallies also included errors by the Pioneers that allowed Pirate runners to score.
Nelson finished the game with four RBIs, while Gentner and Johnson had three apiece. Menzer went 3-4 while Haley Montoya, Gentner and Johnson all had a pair of hits.
Corinne Vasiloff (14-8) allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings for her seventh straight victory.
Cassidy Crusberg (1-8) gave up nine runs (eight earned) on six hits and one walk without recording an out. Kylie Hill took over and allowed nine runs (six earned) on nine hits and four walks in five innings.
Game 2: Lewis & Clark 8, Whitworth 7
The Pirates rallied from an 8-1 deficit and had the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the seventh before the Pioneers held on to win.
Nelson hit her second home run of the day to give Whitworth a 1-0 lead in the second. But L&C scored four in the bottom of the second. Lily Moffitt had a two-run single in the rally.
The Pioneers made it 8-1 with four more runs in the third, including a two-run home run by Riley Anderson and a two-run single by Alissa Hoeke.
Waite pulled the Pirates within 8-3 in the fifth with a two-run home run to left center, her first of the year. Montoya's third homer of the season made it 8-4 later in the fifth.
Johnson and Nelson hit back to back home runs in the top of the sixth to get the Pirates within 8-7. Johnson's drive drove home Menzer.
Whitworth had Montoya on third and Gentner on second after a sacrifice bunt from Dillon in the top of the seventh. But L&C pitcher Alyssa Abe struck out Maddy Thomas and got Menzer to pop out to second to end the game.
Abe (10-10) allowed seven runs on ten hits and a walk. She struck out seven Pirates in the win.
Momi Lyman (10-2) pitched all six innings and allowed eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits and three walks. She struck out one.
