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Box Score 2 NEWBERG, Ore.—George Fox University's Sydney Sandifer hit four home runs and drove in 12 runs, to lead the host Bruins past Lewis & Clark College softball in a pair of Northwest Conference (NWC) games on Sunday.
Mari Alvarez recorded three hits and Riley Anderson hit a two-run home run to lead the Pioneers in the doubleheader.
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KEY MOMENTS GAME ONE: GEORGE FOX 12-1 (6 INNINGS)
Ashley Davis limited the Pioneers to five hits and one run and George Fox scored 10 runs in their final two at-bats to turn a close game into a blowout.
Sophomore Cassidy Crusberg went five innings in the circle and allowed eight hits and two walks. She held the Bruins off the scoreboard through the first three innings, before George Fox scored two in the fourth and used a three-run Sandifer home run to make it 5-1.
Alvarez posted two of the team's five hits. The sophomore catcher went 2-2 and drove in Lewis & Clark's lone run. Kami Merrill finished 1-3 and scored a run and Alyssa Hoeke and Samantha Gildersleeve also picked up a hit.
With the Pioneers trailing 2-0 after four, Alvarez cut the deficit in half in the fifth inning. Merrill started the rally with a one-out single to left and raced to second on a Hoeke single. Alvarez plated Merrill with an RBI single to center. Lily Moffitt was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Davis induced a popup to third to keep it a 2-1 game.
Sandifer hit a three-run, two-out home run in the bottom of the fifth to give George Fox a four-run cushion. Katie Ladd tacked on a three-run homer of her own in the sixth and Sandifer ended the game with a walk-off grand slam.
KEY MOMENTS GAME ONE: GEORGE FOX 12-5
The second contest also was extremely competitive to start, albeit higher scoring, before the hosts used a six-run bottom of the fifth inning to take control of the game.
Lewis & Clark made Davis work all game long and recorded a weekend-high seven hits and five runs against the Bruins ace.
Olivia Brackin and Moffitt each went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Anderson finished 1-2 with a run scored and a two-run home run.
After going down 2-0 in the first inning, Lewis & Clark scored two runs in the second and third inning to tie the game 2-2 and 4-4.
In the second, Brackin laced a single and raced all the way to second after a bobble by an outfielder. With two down, Anderson crushed a home run down the left-field line to tie the game.
The Pioneers scored two more runs in the third. Hoeke was hit by a pitch and raced to third base on a Moffitt double. After the Bruins erased Hoeke on a fielder's choice, Abe drove in Moffitt when the George Fox right fielder wasn't able to catch a fly ball. Brackin followed with an RBI double to tie the game at four. Kalea Kaui walked to load the bases but Davis came up with a big strikeout to keep the Pioneers from taking the lead.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the hosts used a Sandifer grand slam to retake the lead at 10-4.
Lewis & Clark responded with a single run in the sixth. Katie Ingersoll reached on an error, stole second and easily scored on a Moffitt RBI double.
DEEPER LOOK
- Anderson sits tied for sixth in program history for home runs in a single-season with eight. She has hit all eight home runs in the Pioneers last 24 games.
- Alyssa Abe threw four innings on Sunday to set a new career-high for innings pitched in a single-season (104.0). She also tied her career-high for strikeouts in a single-season (64), which also ranks 11th in program history.
- Alvarez has now hit safely in nine of the team's last 10 games. The sophomore is second on the team with her .369 batting average.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will return home to host Whitworth University next weekend for their final four-game home weekend of the season. The Pioneers will host the Pirates on Saturday at Noon and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
