PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball battled the number two team in the nation in a pair of competitive pitcher's duels on a busy and festive Saturday at the Huston Sports Complex. 
 
THE BASICS
#2 Linfield 12, Lewis & Clark 4 (6 Innings) 
#2 Linfield 3, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 19-11, Northwest Conference 13-5) 
(Linfield 30-0, NWC 18-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Prior to Saturday's games, Lewis & Clark hosted a Dedication Ceremony for the renovated Huston Sports Complex that saw a huge upgrade of the softball and baseball fields over the summer. Dignitaries and alumni gave speeches and Lewis & Clark College President Dr. Robin Holmes-Sullivan threw out a first pitch to McKenna Zehnder before Game One. Over a hundred alumni from the baseball and softball programs came out to support their teams and see the brand-new fields. 
 
On the diamond, Lewis & Clark faced their stiffest test of the season and the Pioneers battled in both games thanks to sophomore pitchers Maggie O'Leary and Charlize Pope. Lewis & Clark was tied 4-4 going into the sixth of game one and 1-1 going into the fifth in game two. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
The final score of the opener was extremely deceptive, as the Pioneers fought back from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits to tie the game, before Linfield struck for eight runs in the top of the sixth. 
 
O'Leary was terrific through the first five innings. She finished the game allowing eight hits, 10 runs (nine earned) and three walks – but it easily could have only been five runs. O'Leary tacked on seven strikeouts. Sophomore Tallulah Sickels came on and got the final out of the sixth inning. 
 
Offensively, sophomore designated player Megan Yanagi was the Pioneers top hitter in game one. In her first start of the year, she went 2-3 with a run scored and three RBI and added her first collegiate home run. Senior Sam Gildersleeve registered an RBI single and senior Alyssa Hoeke went 1-2 with a run scored. 
 
Linfield ace Tayah Kelley allowed six hits and four runs (three earned) over six innings. She improved to 19-0 after striking out 13 and walking one. 
 
The Wildcats needed four batters to take a 3-0 lead in the first. After a bunt single from Kaili Saathoff, the Wildcats took advantage of a Pioneers error and a groundout to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Brynn Nelson lined a home run over the fence in left-center to make it 3-0. 
 
Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 3-2 in the second. Harper Campanella struck out to lead off the inning but the ball skipped away from the catcher and Campanella took first. Yanagi made the Wildcats pay when she belted a two-run home run over the fence in left field for her second hit of the season. 
 
Jaycey Leyvas pushed the lead back to 4-2 with a solo blast to left in the top of the fourth. It snapped a run of nine-straight batters retired by O'Leary after the homer in the first. 
 
The Pioneers came back with single runs in the fourth and fifth to tie the game. 
 
In the fourth, Mari Alvarez was hit by a pitch with two down and Emily Patton struck out swinging but the umpire ruled the ball skipped into the catcher's glove and Patton trotted down to first with no throw - to put two on with two outs. Yanagi blooped a single just past the bag at second to easily score pinch runner Katie Ingersoll. 
 
Hoeke started the fifth by hitting a high chopper to short that she beat the throw to first and then took second on an errant throw. With two down, Gildersleeve sent a soft fly ball to left that landed in front of the left fielder and Hoeke raced all the way home. 
 
Linfield scored eight runs with two outs in the sixth thanks to seven hits and two walks. With two on and one out, Sydney Reis singled to left and pinch runner Annika Dayberry raced home, but the umpire ruled Dayberry slid past the bag and Zehnder applied the tag for a 7-6-2 putout. Each of the next six batters would reach with pinch hitter Ashlyn Aven providing a pinch-hit RBI single to take the lead (5-4). The inning took a twist with two outs. Pinch hitter Lexiss Antle was jammed and popped up just in front of home plate but the ball bounced in between three Pioneers infielders for an RBI single on what could have been the third out of the inning. Linfield used a Saathoff bases-clearing triple and a Claire Seats two-run homer to put the game out of reach. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
The second game proved to be just as tight, as Pope and Linfield freshman Tyler McNeley went pitch for pitch. 
 
Pope allowed just five hits (three singles in the first inning) and three runs. She struck out a season-high seven batters and walked two. 
 
McNeley moved to 11-0 after scattering three hits and one run, while striking out eight batters. 
 
Zehnder (double), Gina Ozuna and Campanella each finished with a hit for Lewis & Clark. 
 
Linfield took the lead in the top of the first. With one out, Cydney Hess singled through the left side. With Hess on second and two down, Nelson ripped an RBI single to make it 1-0. After an infield single put two on with two outs, Pope induced a ground out to short to end the frame. 
 
Lewis & Clark tied the game in the third. Zehnder opened the inning by lifting a fly ball just over the head of the right fielder that bounced off the foot of the wall for a double. With one out, Ozuna hit a line drive single to center that advanced Ingersoll, who was pinch running, to third. Sophomore Madison Scroggins engaged in a long at-bat with McNeley before eventually hitting into a fielder's choice that scored Ingersoll. 
 
After not getting a hit in the second through fourth innings, Linfield grabbed the lead in the fifth. Saathoff led off the frame with a single and she easily scored on Hess' two-run homer to left that only cleared the wall by a matter of feet. 
 
McNeley retired the final 14 batters she faced in the contest to deny Lewis & Clark's comeback effort. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Yanagi came into the doubleheader 1-6 on the season with a double and an RBI. She tied her career-high for hits in a game with two and notched her first career home run in the contest. 
• Pope's seven strikeouts were the second-most of her career. She struck out 10 last season in 5.1 innings against the University of Puget Sound on March 11.
• Kelley, the two-time NWC Pitcher of the Year, gave up a season-high four runs (three earned) for the second time this season. She has allowed multiple runs in a game just three times this season in 20 appearances. 
• The Pioneers suffered their first mercy-rule loss of the season in game one. Linfield has posted 14 mercy-rule wins in 30 games this year. 
• Despite their two losses, Lewis & Clark (13-5 NWC) still sits two games ahead of third-place George Fox University (11-7) after George Fox split with Whitworth on Saturday. The Bruins still have to play a four-game set against Linfield in McMinnville next weekend, before the Pioneers and George Fox close the season with a four-game set. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will look to earn their first win against Linfield since April 10, 2021, when Alyssa Abe shutout the number one Wildcats 6-0.