By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth softball will hit the road this weekend, hoping to continue building momentum as they take on George Fox in a four-game Northwest Conference series.
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The Pirates: After a devastating loss in game one last weekend, Whitworth (10-18, 6-10 NWC) found life and rattled off three convincing victories over Puget Sound to win their first series of the season. After allowing the Loggers to rally for a win in game one, the Pirates turned the ship around taking the series with wins of 7-1, 8-0, and 10-0 to surpass UPS for fifth place in the NWC standings.
Whitworth got out in front early in each of the three wins, and excellence on the mound kept Puget Sound's bats at bay. In game two, the Pirates used a four-run third inning which included RBI hits from Julia Dillon and Jessica Rusconi to give them an early lead. Dillon and Rusconi would come up big again later, as the two were involved in a 'runners on the corners' double steal in the fifth that allowed Dillon to take home and give Whitworth a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Rusconi tripled down the right field line to score Dillon and put the finishing touches on a 7-1 win. Sunday's doubleheader was total domination from the Pirates. It got started with a two-out rally in the first inning, Jazz Johnson singled to score Julia Dillon before Mackenzie Nine stole home to go up two early. Rusconi and Montoya each doubled in the fourth inning to help Whitworth go up 6-0, Taylor Hofheins sealed the game with a two-run single in the fifth to give the Pirates the 8-0 mercy rule. In the series finale, Whitworth drove in seven runs in the third inning on their way to a 10-0 win. Montoya, Dillon, Johnson, and Rusconi all slapped RBI-base hits in the inning to put an emphasis on Whitworth's best three-game stretch of the season (they outscored UPS 25-1 across the series final three games).
Series Top Performers: Jessica Rusconi was dominant last weekend; hitting 6-13 (6-9 in the final three games) with four doubles and a triple, and 6 RBIs. Rusconi's first four hits of the weekend went for extra bases. Haley Montoya was 6-14 with a pair of doubles, five RBIs, 3 runs scored and 3 stolen bases. Jazz Johnson completed the trio of big hitters with a 5-12 weekend at the plate and 6 RBIs including four in game four. On the mound, Momi Lyman was dominant allowing no runs in 12 innings while striking out 11 batters and allowing just five hits.
Whitworth heads into another important series against third-place George Fox, the Pirates will look to keep momentum going. As a team the Pirates are fifth in average (.253), runs (105), total bases (246), they're sixth in slugging percentage (.333), but last in on-base percentage (.310). Defensively, the Pirates are fourth in fielding percentage (.962) and fifth in ERA (4.49).
Big Picture: Three wins last weekend propelled Whitworth into a tie for fourth place. They lead Puget Sound and Willamette (5-11 NWC) by a game, and they're tied with PLU (6-10) for fourth. The top four will advance to the conference tournament. With three weekends to go in the regular season, Whitworth will be on the road at George Fox and Pacific Lutheran before hosting Pacific in the regular season finale.
The Opponent: George Fox (17-11, 10-6 NWC) comes into this weekend in third place but coming off a 2-2 split at seventh-place Willamette. The Bruins have enjoyed a favorable schedule thus far, they've yet to play Linfield (28-0, 16-0 NWC) or Lewis & Clark (19-9, 13-3 NWC) who are the top two teams in the conference. It's an important weekend for both Whitworth and George Fox as they look to find their place in the conference tournament.
The Bruins are led by Kamryn Potter who's seventh in the conference in batting average (.402), third in on-base percentage (.536), sixth in hits (35), and tenth in RBIs (22). In fact, the Bruins lineup is full of quality hitters; Sydney Sandifer has cranked nine home runs to lead the NWC, she's got a .663 slugging percentage while maintaining a .315 batting average and a 1.082 OPS. Sharon Tomei leads the Bruins with 30 RBIs on 30 hits this season (plus a .313 average), and Makayla Noone leads the team with 36 hits. On the mound Emma Eastman (7-3) is the Bruins ace, Eastman has an ERA of 3.83 in 82.1 innings of work, 49 strikeouts and an opponent average of .275. George Fox is coached by Jessica and John Hollen, Jessica is the head coach and four-time NWC coach of the year in her 16th season with the program. Whitworth is 23-27 in its last 50 games against the Bruins, 3-11 in the last three seasons.
Senior Power: Haley Montoya and Jessica Rusconi have been the spark for an improving Whitworth offense. One of the two leads the team in every single hitting statistic, and together they've formed quite the duo. Montoya leads the Pirates in average (.330), hits (32), and triples (2) while Rusconi leads the team in OPS (.997), doubles (11), RBIs (16), home runs (2), slugging percentage (.600), walks (6), and on base percentage (.397).
Lyman's breakout: Momi Lyman was especially impressive for the Pirates last weekend. The junior pitched 12 shutout innings, struck out 11, and allowed just five hits. Her 3.90 ERA is ninth in the conference and leads the Pirate pitching staff, she will look to build on that performance this weekend against a tough Bruins lineup.
Leaderboard watch: Montoya remains in the NWC top ten in several categories including hits (ninth – 32), runs scored (tenth – 22), and stolen bases (fourth – 13). Rusconi leads the NWC in doubles (11), while Corinne Vasiloff leads the conference in innings pitched (93), tenth in opposing batting average (.295), and fifth in strikeouts (55).
The Coach: Bob Castle took over as Whitworth's head coach in 2019 after serving as an assistant on staff from 2015-2018 where he was apart of three Northwest Conference titles. Castle earned his first winning season as head coach in 2022 with a 25-17 record, he's looking to guide Whitworth to it's fifth straight NWC tournament appearance this season.
