PORTLAND, Ore. -- Samantha Gildersleeve's second home run of the game, and her eighth in as many contests, gave the Lewis & Clark Pioneers a walk-off finish in their series-deciding 6-5 win over the Puget Sound Loggers on Saturday.

The finale followed another 6-5 win in the opener.

Entering Saturday, Gildersleeve had homered in her last six games, and after that streak ended in the first game, she hit two -- one in the fourth inning before sending a two-run blast in the seventh to win the game. She leads the Northwest Conference with 14 home runs on the season.

The top four teams in the NWC standings make the NWC tournament. Now in third place, Lewis & Clark holds a four-game lead in the win column over fifth-place Whitworth entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Pios host first in a home-and-home with Pacific starting on May 1.

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Key Moments | Game 2

Puget Sound opened to a 3-0 lead with a trio of runs in the third. Abbi Wong hit a fifth-inning home run to extend the Loggers lead to 5-0.

The Pioneers had had three baserunners with one hit through the first three innings, but the Pios finished with eight hits over the last four innings and walked three additional times. Gildersleeve hit a lead-off home run to begin things in the fourth, the first of four straight hits. Braylin Jenson hit an RBI single, and Mari Alvarez's sacrifice fly closed the lead to two.

In the sixth, Olivia Brackin led off with a home run, but the Pios stranded two runners, leaving the tying and go-ahead runs off the board. In the seventh, Sydney Cross drew a lead-off walk, and with Alyssa Hoeke in to pinch run, Gildersleeve hit the game-winner.

Alyssa Abe threw the final 3 1/3 innings and struck out five to earn the win, her seventh of the season. Cassidy Crusberg and Jane Wilson combined for the first 3 2/3 innings.

Key Moments | Game 1

Kalea Kaui, Alvarez, Cross and Brackin each had a double as the Pios totaled 11 hits in a 6-5 win. Wilson threw 4 2/3 innings and struck out two. She allowed two runs on six hits. 

The Pios scored the first run of the game when Kami Merrill scored on a passed ball. Two of the doubles, Brakin and Kaui's, happened in the three-run fourth inning. Gildersleeve, who had her streak of six straight games with a home run snapped, scored one on an RBI single in the fifth.

The Loggers scored three runs in the seventh. With one out and two runners on, Puget Sound lined into a double play to end the game.

Looking Ahead

The Pios host Pacific on Apr. 1 beginning at noon.