WHITTIER, Calif.—Whittier College's Emily Adkinson recorded a pair of walk-off hits to lead the Poets over visiting Lewis & Clark College softball on Thursday afternoon at Palmer Field. 

The Pioneers came back from early deficits in both games to take the lead, only to see the Poets score two runs in the bottom of the seventh of game and one run in the seventh of game two. 

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KEY MOMENTS GAME ONE: WHITTIER 4-3 

Game one was a pitching duel with the two teams combining to score four of the seven runs in the final two innings. 

Junior Alyssa Abe was the tough-luck loser, after allowing seven hits, one walk and four runs (three earned) over 6.1 innings. She also struck out five batters.  

The Pioneers were limited to six singles in the contest. Kalea Kaui and Riley Anderson were the only Lewis & Clark players to reach twice. Kaui went 1-2 with two runs scored and a walk and Anderson finished 1-2 with a walk and a run. 

Lewis & Clark struck first in the contest. In the top of the third, Kaui walked with one out, stole second, took third on an Alyssa Hoeke infield single and easily scored on Mari Alvarez's sac fly to right field. 

Whittier immediately answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to grab a 2-1 advantage. 

The Pioneers tied the game in the sixth. Kaui started the rally once again, as she singled to left field and took third base on a Poets error. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Olivia Brackin's RBI groundout tied the game at 2-2. 

Lewis & Clark took the lead in the top of the seventh. Anderson worked a leadoff walk, moved to second on a bunt and raced home on an Abe single through the left side. 

The Poets earned the win in the bottom half of the inning. After a leadoff double, the Poets took advantage of an error to put runners at second and third with no outs. Abe induced a fly out to right that barely scored the tying run and Emily Adkinson followed with an RBI single to win the game for the hosts.  

KEY MOMENTS GAME ONE: WHITTIER 8-7

Lewis & Clark rallied from a 5-2 deficit to take the lead, but the Poets scored the final three runs of the contest to earn the doubleheader sweep. 

Mia Lopez, Kaui and Anderson all went deep for the Pioneers in the loss. Lopez's home run was her first collegiate homer and drove in her second and third collegiate RBI. 

Brackin was the only Pioneers to post multiple hits. The senior first baseman went 2-2 with two runs, one RBI and walked twice. 

Cassidy Crusberg started and went 4+ innings and allowed 10 hits and six runs (five earned). Abe came on in relief and took the loss after giving up four hits and two earned runs. She also struck out three batters.

Game two was a game of back-and-forth momentum. 

The Pioneers got off to a hot start as Anderson crushed a two-out, solo home run and Lily Moffitt followed with an RBI double that scored Brackin. 

Lewis & Clark's lead would only last five batters, as Whittier struck for five runs on five hits and an error in the bottom of the first.

The Pioneers would roar back with five runs of their own in the top of the fifth. With two outs and Anderson on second, Brackin singled to left field to plate Anderson. Lopez followed with a game-tying home run to straight-away center field to make it a 5-5 game. Jules Henderson reached on a walk and Kaui made the Poets pay with a blast to left field to give the Pioneers a 7-5 edge. 

Whittier immediately countered. Each of the first two batters reached and the Pioneers went to the bullpen to bring in Abe. She hit the first batter, before striking out a pinch hitter. Whittier scored one run on a sacrifice fly, but Abe forced Adkinson to hit a soft liner to short to preserve the lead. 

The Poets tied the game in the sixth with a two-out single and held Lewis & Clark off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. 

With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the seventh, Kelly Monroy singled and raced all the way home on an Adkison walk-off double. 

DEEPER LOOK 

• Five of the seven runs in game one and 12 of the 15 runs in game two were scored with two outs. Combined, the two teams recorded 17 two-out runs. 
• Thursday's doubleheader was the first meeting between the Pioneers and Poets since 2018. The two programs met on the opening weekend of the season, with each team winning one game. 
• Anderson and Brackin each scored twice in game two. 
• Lewis & Clark now has four hitters with three or more home runs this season. Samantha Gildersleeve and Anderson each have five apiece, Brackin has hit four and Kaui has three homers in her last six games.  

LOOKING AHEAD  

The Pioneers will travel to take on the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer on Friday at 1 and 3 p.m.