The Pioneer softball team played their final two home games of
the 2008 season Sunday afternoon at the Huston Sports Complex,
falling 6-0 (box
score) and 13-3 (box score) to the #4
Linfield Wildcats. Paige McFeeley went 3-3 in the second game.
In game one, the Linfield Wildcats took an early 3-0 lead. After
getting the first three runners of the game aboard, they drove in
all three runs on just one more hit in the inning. The Wildcats
scored three more in the fifth. A one-out single by Jenny Marshall
turned into a run after a double by Meredith Brunette. A single by
Emily Keagbine added the third run of the inning, giving the
Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
Nathalie Matson (grad, Astoria, Ore.) put an exclamation point
on her Pioneer career, pitching a strong game against the defending
National Champions. Five of the six runs scored in the game were
unearned and she kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard in five of
the seven innings of the game.
In game two, the Pioneers took the first lead of the game,
scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Kim Kittell (sophomore,
Tillamook, Ore.) led off with a slap single, advancing from first
to third on a sacrifice, and then coming around to score on a
two-out single by Sarah DiSabatino (senior, Pleasanton, Ore.).
Linfield batted around in the third, scoring six runs on five
hits, including a two-run triple from Meredith Burnette. A solo
home run by Meredith Burnette made it 7-1 in the fourth. After
getting an unearned run in the fifth, Linfield entered the sixth
with an 8-1 lead. The Wildcats got their first seven batters on
base, six of them reaching with a hit, scoring six runs in the
inning. Amanda Attleberger and Emily Keagbine each drove in two
runs in the inning.
The Pioneers, in their final at-bat at the Huston Sports
Complex, made the most of it, scoring three runs. Senior Sarah
DiSabatino walked to lead off the inning. Senior Karyne
Sander (senior, Grants Pass, Ore.) singled. Senior Charlotte
Skeffington (senior, Vashon Island, Wash.) singled, driving in a
run. Paige McFeeley (freshman, Boise, Idaho) singled in a run with
one of her three hits in the game.
With the victories, Linfield improved to 24-2 on the season and
13-1 in the NWC. The Pioneers fall to 2-25 (2-18 NWC).
The Pioneers are on the road the rest of the season, beginning
with a series next weekend in Spokane, taking on the Whitworth
Pirates.
Click on the photo below to see pictures from the Pioneer Senior
Day Celebrations.
