PTACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College softball showed no signs of rust on Monday with a doubleheader sweep of host Pacific Lutheran University at PLU Field. 
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 1, PLU 0
Lewis & Clark 12, PLU 5 
(Lewis & Clark 12-8, Northwest Conference 6-6) 
(PLU 17-7, NWC 9-3) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
After an unscheduled 13-day hiatus, the Pioneers used pitching and defense to win game one and then scored eight runs in the top of the seventh of game two to break a 4-4 tie. With the two wins, the Pioneers stretched their winning streak to five and reached .500 in NWC play for the first time this season (6-6). 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Freshman Tallulah Sickels limited the hosts to just four singles and the Pioneers scratched across a single run in the second inning to snap PLU's four-game winning streak. 
 
Sickels was fantastic in her third collegiate conference start. She scattered four singles, five walks and one hit by pitch over seven innings. Sickels added two strikeouts in her third complete-game shutout of the season. 
 
Offensively, Lewis & Clark was limited to just three hits but made the most of their few chances. 
 
Sophomore Riley Anderson doubled down the left field line to open the second inning. With one out, freshman McKenna Zehnder walked and senior Kalea Kaui walked with two outs to load the bases. Anderson scampered home on a wild pitch to give Sickels the only run they would need. 
 
Freshman Lainey Honma and junior Sam Gildersleeve each added hits for the Pioneers and Kaui worked two walks. 
 
Pacific Lutheran put runners on in six of the seven innings but couldn't come through with runners on. The Lutes finished the game 1-10 with runners on base. 
 
The hosts had their best chance to score in the fourth inning. With one out, the Lutes loaded the bases on a walk, error and muffed throw. With the bases loaded, Casey Wright hit a low line drive to center field that Honma raced to catch and then fired to second to complete the inning-ending double play. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 

Lewis & Clark erupted for eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to complete the doubleheader sweep of the Lutes. The Pioneers posted a season-high 14 hits and 12 RBI in the contest and added their most runs in a conference game with 12 runs scored. 
 
Junior Mari Alvarez and Honma were two of the offensive heroes for Lewis & Clark. 
 
Alvarez hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth and then started the scoring in the seventh with an RBI double. She finished the game 3-5 with two runs and two RBI. Honma put an exclamation point on the Pioneers seventh inning when she hit her first collegiate home run: a grand slam. The Pios leadoff hitter finished the game 3-5 with two runs and a career-high five RBI. 
 
Freshman Emily Patton matched Alvarez and Honma with three hits in five at-bats and chipped in two runs scored. Kaui ended the game 2-4 with two runs and an RBI. 
 
Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. With one out, Patton and Alvarez recorded back-to-back hits and Gildersleeve followed with a two-run, two-out double. 
 
The hosts took their only lead of the game in the bottom of the third. Each of the first three hitters singled and Kennedy Kila doubled to tie the game and end Alyssa Abe's day in the circle. Freshman Charlize Pope came on and induced a sacrifice fly and a groundout to end the inning down 3-2.
 
Lewis & Clark immediately answered. With two on and two outs in the fourth, Honma sliced a double to left-center to score Kaui from second base. Alvarez made it 4-3 in the fifth when she crushed a home run over the center field fence to open the inning. 
 
After a PLU homer in the fifth tied the game, Lewis & Clark stepped up in the seventh looking for their second-straight NWC sweep. 
 
Honma opened the inning with a single and Patton followed by putting down a perfect bunt for a single. Alvarez gave the Pioneers the lead for good when she lined a double off the top of the wall in center. With one out, sophomore Mia Lopez delivered an RBI single to center to score Patton. Kaui added an RBI single with two outs to score pinch runner Gina Ozuna. After back-to-back walks to Zehnder and freshman Madison Scroggins, PLU went to their bullpen. Honma greeted the reliever with a first-pitch grand slam to right-center to make it 12-4. 
 
PLU opened the bottom of the seventh inning with three-straight singles to make it 12-5 and Pope's day. Freshman Maggie O'Leary came on and retired the next three batters in order to close it out. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Sickels three shutouts in a single-season are the third-most in program history. She only trails Liz Coburn (2001) and Trissa Chamberlin (1989) who each posted six shutouts. 
• Lewis & Clark has won four in a row over PLU after sweeping the Lutes in a doubleheader on March 20 last season. The Pios had only swept one doubleheader against PLU (April 22, 2007) in the previous 15 seasons. 
• Honma finished the day 4-9 with two runs, five RBI, a double and a home run. 
• The Pioneers are riding their first five-game winning streak since April 2-April 10, 2021. 
• Pope earned the win in game two after going 3.2 innings. She allowed four hits, one walk and two earned runs. 
• Lewis & Clark is off to their best 20-game start (12-8) since 2001, when the Pioneers started 12-7-1. 
• After an 0-4 start to NWC play, Lewis & Clark is 6-6 in conference play. The Pioneers are tied with Willamette University (8-8) for the fourth and final NWC Tournament spot with 16 games left. 
• Lewis & Clark has committed just two errors during their five-game winning streak. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will continue their frenetic week on Wednesday. The Pios will kick off an eight-game homestand on Wednesday, when they host Warner Pacific University in non-conference play at 2 and 4 p.m. Lewis & Clark is scheduled to play 10 games this week, with the final eight all at home.