MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—Softball played a tight back-and-forth contest with #12 Linfield University in their Northwest Conference opener, before falling by way of the mercy rule in game two on Sunday afternoon. 

THE BASICS
#12 Linfield 4, Lewis & Clark College 3
#12 Linfield 9, Lewis & Clark 1 (5 Innings) 
(Lewis & Clark 6-4, NWC 0-2) 
(Linfield 6-2, NWC 2-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the opener, before Linfield scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a walk-off win. The Wildcats carried that momentum into game two and scored nine runs in the opening three innings of a 9-1 five-inning victory. 
 
Freshman Emily Patton posted RBI in both contests, including a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning of game one. Sophomore Riley Anderson and Mari Alvarez each posted a multiple-hit game for the Pioneers. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Senior ace Alyssa Abe kept the Wildcats bats at bay and the Pioneers came through with three timely runs late, before the hosts rallied for a walk-off victory. 
 
Abe pitched her way through trouble at points on Sunday but was effective against the defending NWC Champions. She went five innings and scattered five hits, five walks, two runs and added one strikeout. The senior allowed baserunners in four of her five innings and left six Wildcat runners on base. Freshman Charlize Pope pitched the final 1.1 innings and scattered four hits, two runs (one earned) and struck out one. 
 
Anderson went 2-3 with a run scored and hit one of the Pioneers two solo home runs against 2022 NWC Pitcher of the Year Tayah Kelley. Sophomore Sam Gildersleeve added a solo home run as well. 
 
Kelley went the full seven innings and allowed six hits, three earned runs and struck out nine. 
 
Linfield threatened to take the lead in the second inning. With two outs and a runner on first, the Wildcats recorded a hit and a walk to load the bases. Abe induced a line drive to shortstop Kalea Kaui to strand three.
 
After failing to put a runner on base in the first four innings against Kelley, the Pioneers scored two runs in the fifth. Anderson opened the frame by blasting a homer over the left-field fence to break the tie. Two batters later, Gildersleeve crushed a pitch over the left-center field fence to make it 2-0. Freshman Megan Yanagi added an infield-single with two outs for the third Pios hit of the inning. 
 
Linfield tied the game with two runs of their own in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Abe retired Katie Phillips on a fly out for the second out of the inning. Cleanup hitter Cydney Hess came through with a two-run, two-out single to tie it, but Abe struck out Claire Seats to keep the game at 2-2. 
 
Freshman Lainey Honma immediately put pressure on the Wildcats in the sixth inning. She lined a double to right field and stole third all with no outs. Patton followed with an RBI single to right-center to help the Pioneers retake the lead. Patton moved to third on an Anderson one-out single, but Kelley induced a pair of infield outs to keep the score at 3-2. 
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out on a single, an error and another single. Seats came through with a two-run single for a walk-off win.  
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Linfield scored six runs in the first and three more in the third to earn the doubleheader sweep on NWC Opening Day. 
 
Alvarez accounted for two of the Pioneers four hits, as she finished 2-3. Freshmen McKenna Zehnder and Honma added a single apiece. 
 
In the circle, Maggie O'Leary pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed one hit, two walks and struck out one in a scoreless outing. 
 
Linfield scored six runs on six hits and an error in the bottom of the first with the final four runs all coming with two outs. They tacked on three more runs in the third to extend their advantage to 9-0 before the game was delayed for over an over due to a rain delay. 
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Lewis & Clark manufactured a run to avoid being shutout for the first time this season. Freshman Gina Ozuna walked with one out, took second on a wild pitch and third on a Linfield error. Patton drove Ozuna home with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 9-1. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The Pioneers three runs in game one against Kelley matched their entire season total against the Linfield ace in three games last season. Kelley limited Lewis & Clark to three runs in 13 innings last year (1.62 ERA). 
• Anderson has hit a team-high five home runs and her home run in game one extended her home-run hitting streak to three-straight. She led the Pioneers last season with nine homers. 
• O'Leary posted her first collegiate scoreless outing in game two. 
• Sunday's games were the Pioneers first contests in two weeks, after having their series against Pacific postponed last weekend and their opener on Saturday pushed back to this Monday.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will return to McMinnville on Monday, for the final two games of their NWC series against #12 Linfield. Game times are scheduled for 3 and 5 p.m.