PORTLAND, Ore.—In a game that lasted over 25 hours, included three separate rain delays and started on Friday and ended Saturday afternoon, George Fox University jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on for a 9-6 win over Lewis & Clark College softball in game two of their Northwest Conference series. 
 
THE BASICS
George Fox 9, Lewis & Clark 6
(Lewis & Clark 16-10, Northwest Conference 8-8) 
(George Fox 16-10, NWC 9-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Lewis & Clark continued their extremely long week when they came back on Saturday to complete the halted game from Friday. The Pios fell behind 9-1 in the top of the fifth, before staving off the mercy rule and then mounting a late rally to bring the tying-run to the on-deck circle in the bottom of the seventh. 
 
Freshman Maggie O'Leary was the story in the contest. After the first two Pioneers pitchers couldn't find the strike zone and allowed six runs in the top of the first with just one out, O'Leary came on in relief on Friday. She finished her outing with a career-high and potentially program record 12 strikeouts over 6.2 innings. O'Leary allowed just four hits, three runs and walked six in her outing. 
 
Offensively, senior Kalea Kaui finished with a pair of RBI singles to go 2-4 with a run and three RBI. Freshman Lainey Honma was the only other Pioneer with multiple hits as she went 2-4 with a run scored. Junior Mari Alvarez went 1-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk. 
 
With the temperature dropping, rain falling and wind blowing hard to start game two, George Fox scored six runs in the top of the first on five walks, one hit by pitch and just two hits. The Bruins scored their first two runs on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, before Ashley Sansoni came through with a grand slam over the left-field fence to make it 6-0. 
 
O'Leary came on at that point and struck out the first two batters she faced to leave a pair of runners in scoring position. 
 
In the second, George Fox loaded the bases with no outs but O"Leary was able to get out of the jam unscathed. She struck out the first batter, the Pioneers threw out a runner trying to score on an errant pitch that got to the backstop and then Alyssa Hoeke made a running catch for the third out of the inning. 
 
With the weather getting even worse, Lewis & Clark scored one run in the bottom of the second before the game was halted. Kaui reached on a throwing error and moved all the way to second on the play. After a wild pitch moved her to third, she scampered home when George Fox pitcher Kami Gibson lost the grip off the softball as she was set to uncork a pitch and the ball went backwards. 
 
The two teams resumed the game from there on Saturday. O'Leary struck out the side in order in the third and then again in the fourth (although the Bruins did put two runners on in the inning). 
 
George Fox pushed their lead to eight in the top of the fifth. After a walk and a single with one out, Kamryn Potter hit a three-run homer to left to put the Pioneers in threat of being mercied. 
 
In the bottom of the inning, Hoeke and Honma came through with back-to-back one-out singles. With two down and first base open, Alvarez walked on four pitches and sophomore Riley Anderson followed with a five-pitch walk to make it 9-2. After another ball from Gibson, George Fox went to their bullpen and the game was halted again as the rain began to come down hard. 
 
After a 30-minute delay, Kaui greeted reliever Emma Eastman with a two-run single to left to score Honma and pinch-runner Pippi Jepsen. 
 
With the Pioneers down to their final three outs in the seventh, Lewis & Clark mounted one final rally. Emily Patton singled with one out and raced all the way home on an Alvarez double to dead center. With two outs and pinch runner Gina Ozuna still on second, Kaui came through with an RBI single to center. Eastman induced a line out back to the circle to close out the Bruins second-straight 9-6 win. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• O'Leary's 12 strikeouts are the most strikeouts the Pioneers have had in a single-game by the entire staff, much less one pitcher, since at least 2012. The only time the Pioneers have thrown 11 strikeouts in a single game since 2013 was April 15, 2017, when Kaili Akimseu struck out 11 in a 3-0 loss to George Fox University. 
• After not getting a hit in game one on Monday, Alvarez has hit safely in the next seven games this week. She is 12-22 (.545) with eight runs, 11 RBI, four doubles and four home runs in that span. 
• With her fifth-inning, bases-loaded walk, Anderson is now five RBI shy of tying the program record for RBI in a single-season (43). 
• Kaui has posted two three RBI games in the Pioneers last four contests. She sits third on the team with 17 RBI.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pios and Bruins will attempt to close out the series on Sunday, when they are scheduled to play games 3 and 4 at 11 am and 1pm.