TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & College softball swept the University of Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon to set the program record for conference wins (15) and reach 20 wins in a season for the second time in program history.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 13, Puget Sound 5 (6 Innings)
Lewis & Clark 8, Puget Sound 0
(Lewis & Clark 21-13, Northwest Conference 15-7)
(Puget Sound 7-23, NWC 5-17)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore starting pitchers
Maggie O'Leary and
Charlize Pope combined to allow one earned run over 10.1 innings and the Pioneers racked up 23 hits and 21 runs over 13 innings.
Sophomore
McKenna Zehnder led the team offensively with two hits and five RBI. Freshman
Makena Dahir posted her first collegiate home run and a pair of runs scored in two pinch hit at-bats.
GAME ONE RECAP
Lewis Clark used a seven-run third inning to jump out to a big lead and added five runs in their final two at-bats to set the single-season program record for conference victories.
Zenhder and Dahir each hit home runs and sophomore
Gina Ozuna joined the pair with multiple RBI. Zehnder finished the contest 1-3 with a run scored and three RBI. Dahir blasted a two-run, pinch-hit home run in the fifth inning. Ozuna finished the game 1-3 with two runs, two RBI, a stolen base and a hit by pitch. O'Leary posted her first collegiate multi-hit and multi-run game with two hits, two runs and an RBI.
O'Leary got the start and went 5.1 innings and allowed six hits, one walk and two runs (one earned). She finished the game with five strikeouts. Senior
Cassidy Crusberg made her season debut in the third inning and allowed three hits, two walks and three runs.
Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Ozuna led off with a hit by pitch and stole second. With one out,
Harper Campanella,
Sam Gildersleeve and
Mari Alvarez each worked walks to make it 1-0.
The Pioneers blew the game open in the third. With one out, Campanella worked a walk. Her pinch runner
Lola Jarrette stole second and she raced home on a Gildersleeve RBI single. The Pioneers had runners at first and second with two outs and each of the next five batters reached. O'Leary recorded her second collegiate RBI with an RBI single to plate Gildersleeve. Zehnder followed with a three-run homer to make it 6-0.
Katie Ingersoll kept the run going with a walk and then stole second. She raced home on an Ozuna RBI single and Ozuna came in to score on
Madison Scroggins single.
Puget Sound responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning.
Lewis & Clark made it 11-3 in the fifth. O'Leary and
Megan Yanagi opened the frame with back-to-back singles and O'Leary came in to score on a Loggers error. The Pioneers pushed their lead to 9-3 on an Ozuna RBI ground out. Dahir capped the inning with her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot that also scored
Alyssa Hoeke.
The Pioneers secured the run-rule victory in the sixth. Alvarez and
Lacey Marglin posted back-to-back singles and Alvarez scored on a Puget Sound error.
Puget Sound threatened to extend the game to the seventh inning in the bottom of the inning. Breanna Flannery started the inning with a double and the Loggers put runners on the corners with no outs after an error. O'Leary induced a fly ball to right field and Gildersleeve made the catch and then threw out the runner trying to score from third base for a double play. The Pioneers used a ground out to close out the win.
GAME TWO RECAP
Pope and sophomore
Tallulah Sickels combined for a three-hit shutout and
Abby Yamashita and Zehnder combined for five RBI.
Pope went the opening five innings and scattered three singles, while striking out six. Sickels retired the final six batters in order and posted one strikeout.
Yamashita paced the Pioneers offensively with two hits, three RBI and a double. Sophomore
Emily Patton tacked on two hits and two runs scored in four at-bats. Alvarez chipped in two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Zehnder registered two RBI and Gildersleeve notched two runs scored.
Lewis & Clark hopped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Gildersleeve started the inning with a hit by pitch, took second on a ground out and third on a Loggers error. With two runners in scoring position, Zehnder drove in Gildersleeve with an RBI ground out. Yamashita made it 2-0 with an RBI double to center that plated Patton.
The Pioneers extended their lead to 5-0 in the fifth. Ozuna singled to open the frame and moved to third on a ground out. She raced home on a
Harper Campanella RBI ground out. With two down, Gildersleeve walked and stole second. Alvarez drove in her classmate with an RBI single. After a Patton single put two runners on, Zehnder recorded her fifth RBI of the day with a single to center field.
Lewis & Clark capped off their scoring in the seventh. Dahir pinch hit to open the frame and singled to left. Junior
Caeleigh Rosenbach recorded an infield single for her first collegiate hit. The Pioneers loaded the bases on an error and junior
Pippi Jepsen registered her first collegiate RBI with a single to right field. Yamashita roped a two-run single to center to score Patton and Rosenbach to make it 8-0.
Puget Sound managed only three base runners in the contest. In the fifth inning, the Loggers recorded back-to-back singles to open the frame. Pope buckled down by registering back-to-back strikeouts and then induced a fly out to center to close out the inning.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With their two wins on Saturday (15-7), the Pioneers broke a tie with the 2021 team (13-11) for the most conference victories in a single-season.
- Several Pioneers recorded career firsts on Saturday. Dahir posted her first collegiate home run in game one. Rosenbach registered her first collegiate hit and run scored in game two. Jepsen notched her first collegiate RBI and her second collegiate hit in game two.
- The Pioneers 21 wins are the second-most in program history. The 1990 team owns the program record for wins in a single-season with 22 (22-13-1).
- Lewis & Clark posted their sixth mercy-rule win of the season in game one and sixth shutout of the year in game two.
- Zehnder recorded her second and third multi-RBI games of the season on Saturday. Her home run in game one was the third home run of her collegiate career.
- The Pioneers own a four-game lead over fourth-place George Fox University (11-11) for the fourth and final spot in the NWC Tournament. The Pioneers sit three games ahead of Pacific Lutheran University (12-10), as Lewis & Clark aims to lock up the two seed.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will look to win their fifth NWC series of the season, when they take on the Loggers at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
