SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth and George Fox split their Northwest Conference softball series with another split of a doubleheader on Sunday at Diana Marks Field. Following the same script as Saturday, the Pirates (23-17 overall, 15-13 NWC) won the opener 4-3 with a walk-off hit, while the Bruins (25-15, 18-10) pulled away late to win the second game 12-4.
Whitworth and George Fox qualify for next weekend's NWC tournament, the Pirates as the 4th seed and the Bruins as the 3rd seed. Whitworth will take on top-seed and regular season champion Linfield on Friday, while GFU battles 2nd-seeded Pacific Lutheran.
Game 1 – Whitworth 4, George Fox 3
After the Bruins tied the game with two runs in the top of the seventh, the Pirates got three straight hits in the bottom of the inning to win on Jazz Johnson's walk-off single.
Sydney Sandifer gave George Fox a 1-0 lead in the first with a solo home run to center field.
Whitworth took advantage of a dropped fly ball in right field that allowed Haley Montoya to reach third base with one out in the third inning. Mattea Nelson followed with an RBI single to tie the game.
Montoya made the Bruins pay for another error in the fourth with a two-out single that scored Katie McKinnis after an infield fielding error extended the inning.
Taylor Hofheins added an RBI single in the fifth for a 3-1 Pirate lead.
After allowing the solo homer in the first and a single in the second, Whitworth's Corinne Vasiloff retired 13 straight Bruins until Sandifer led off the top of the seventh with a single. With runners at second and third and no outs, George Fox got within 3-2 when Sandifer scored on a ground out. The Pirates committed their own error on a bunt squeeze play, allowing the tying run to score from third.
Undeterred, Julia Dillon opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and went to third on a Reagan Ellis single. Johnson drove her single past a drawn-in infield for the winning run.
Vasiloff (15-7) won her second game of the series after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in her complete game. She struck out two.
Ashley Davis (11-7) took the loss after giving up four runs (one earned) on nine hits and a walk in six innings. She struck out five.
Game 2 – George Fox 12, Whitworth 4
Emma Classen drove in six runs as the Bruins scored nine over the final two innings to break open a tight game and even the series.
The Pirates took advantage of a first inning throwing error to score two runs. Dillon had an RBI single and scored on a ground out from Ellis.
The Bruins tied the game in the third on an RBI single from Sharon Tomei and a sacrifice fly from Classen. They took the lead in the fourth inning when a run came home on Kamryn Potter's ground out.
The game remained 3-2 until the sixth when George Fox scored three times. After loading the bases with one out on a single and two walks, Sandifer and Classen delivered RBI singles. The final run scored on a wild pitch.
Whitworth cut the margin to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, the first run scored on a fielding error at shortstop. Davis came on in relief for GFU and walked Dillon to drive in the second run. Then after a 13-pitch at-bat, she got Ellis to fly out to center with the bases still loaded.
The Bruins scored six in the top of the seventh to put the game away, the final four coming on Classen's grand slam.
Kami Gibson (7-5) pitched the first 4.1 innings to get her second win of the series. She allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits. Elise Wilkinson followed and gave up two runs (0 earned) on three hits in 1.1 innings. Davis worked the final 1.1 for her first save.
Momi Lyman (7-9) allowed six runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. Kaleigh Bauerle threw two-thirds of an inning and a tired Vasiloff pitched the seventh and allowed six runs.
Whitworth had 12 hits, including two each from Dillon, Hofheins, Kennedy Robison and Jessica Rusconi. However, the Pirates left 11 runners on base.
