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Box Score 2 PORTLAND, Ore.—Despite two hits and two RBI from senior first baseman Olivia Brackin in game two, Lewis & Clark College softball fell in a pair of games to #8 Linfield University on Tuesday afternoon at the Huston Sports Complex.
Brackin finished 2-3 with a run scored, two RBI and a solo home run in the second game against the Northwest Conference league-leaders.
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KEY MOMENTS GAME ONE: #8 LINFIELD 8-0 (5 INNINGS)
#8 Linfield used a pair of big innings and another strong outing from NWC Pitcher of the Week Tayah Kelly to earn an 8-0 win in the opener.
The Wildcats scratched across one run in the second, three more in the fourth and Kamryn Mobley hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to account for the offense.
Kelley improved to 13-0 after allowing just two hits, no walks and striking out six.
Samantha Gildersleeve and Kami Merrill each had a base hit for the Pioneers.
In the circle, Cassidy Crusberg limited the nationally-ranked Wildcats to just four runs (three earned) over the first four frames. Crusberg struck out one batter and did not issue a free pass.
KEY MOMENTS GAME TWO: #8 LINFIELD 8-2
The second game was much tighter, until the Wildcats scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 8-1.
Pioneers ace Alyssa Abe went five innings in the loss and scattered nine hits and four runs. Crusberg came on and pitched the final two innings in relief.
Offensively, Brackin and Riley Anderson (2-3) each recorded a pair of hits to lead the Pioneers. Kaui tacked on a single and a run scored and Mia Lopez, Mari Alvarez and Katie Ingersoll also registered base knocks.
With the Pioneers down 2-0 after two innings, Brackin cut the deficit in half in the third. Kaui opened the inning with a single, took second on a groundout and raced home on a two-out Brackin RBI single.
Linfield scratched across a single run in the fourth and fifth and then used a four-run sixth inning to blow the game open.
Brackin responded with a salvo of her own, as she led off the bottom of the sixth with a monster home run to cut it to 8-2. The Pioneers would put another baserunner on in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn't cut into the deficit further.
DEEPER LOOK
- Brackin's home run in game two was her 22nd collegiate home run and her 100th collegiate hit. She is currently the active leader in home runs by a Pioneer and the likely program record holder in the category.
- Ingersoll's pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh inning was the freshman's first collegiate hit in seven at-bats. She also stole a base in the inning to improve to 3-4 on the year.
- Linfield, who leads the NWC standings by 3.5 games, improved to 21-3 with the two wins. They have won four in a row and 10 of their past 11.
- Game one was the first time this season Abe has not pitched in a contest. The Pioneers ace had pitched in each of the team's first 16 games.
WHO'S NEXT
The Pioneers will travel to California for their Spring Break trip to take on three teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). The Pioneers will open their trip on Thursday at Noon when they take on the Poets of Whittier College.
