MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—#2 Lewis & Clark College softball scored two runs in four separate innings and never trailed to earn their first-ever Northwest Conference Tournament victory with an 8-3 win over #3 Pacific Lutheran University. 

THE BASICS
#2 Lewis & Clark 8, #3 Pacific Lutheran 3
(Lewis & Clark 27-14) 
(Pacific Lutheran 23-18) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Harper Campanella, McKenna Zehnder and Sam Gildersleeve each registered two-run hits to lead the Pioneers offensive attack. Seven Pioneers hitters recorded hits and Lewis & Clark tacked on seven walks. 
 
With the win, #2 Lewis & Clark will take on top-seeded #1 Linfield University on Saturday at Noon in the NWC Tournament Semifinals. The winner of Saturday's game will move on to Sunday's NWC Championship Series, while the loser will play in the third game on Saturday (5 p.m.) with a spot in the NWC Championship Series on the line. 
 
Gildersleeve (double) and Campanella each posted a hit, a run scored and two RBI. Zehnder added a double and two RBI and Gina Ozuna and Emily Patton each tacked on a hit, a run scored and an RBI. Madison Scroggins led the team with two runs scored. 
 
Sophomore pitchers Maggie O'Leary and Charlize Pope combined to limit the Lutes to eight hits, one walk and three earned runs. O'Leary earned the win after going four innings allowing four hits and two runs and striking out one. Pope scattered four hits, one walk and one run over the final three innings and struck out five. 
 
Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two down, Mari Alvarez and Sam Gildersleeve worked back-to-back walks and both Lola Jarrette (pinch runner) and Gildersleeve moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch. Campanella came through with a two-run single through the left field to make it 2-0. 
 
After retiring the first eight Lutes batters of the game, O'Leary ran into some trouble with two outs in the third. Kamalani Doctor singled through the left side, stole second and raced home on a Casey Wright bloop single to left field. The Pioneers got out of the jam when Zehnder fired a strike to second base to erase Wright trying to steal. 
 
Pacific Lutheran tied the game in the top of the fourth. With one out, Paola Garcia doubled and she scored on Molly House's RBI single to right field that fell just between the Pioneers second baseman and right fielder. 
 
Lewis & Clark immediately responded in the bottom of the inning. Scroggins started the rally with a double to right-center. With one down, Megan Yanagi walked and Katie Ingersoll beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Ozuna worked a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-2 and Patton added a second run with an RBI groundout (4-2). 
 
The Pioneers went to the bullpen to start the fifth inning. Pope gave up a leadoff single and a two-out walk to put two runners on with two down. Rylie Wada lifted a fly ball to shallow left center to cut the deficit to 4-3 but Pope struck out the next batter to strand the tying run at third base. 
 
Once again, Lewis & Clark would have an immediate answer. Gildersleeve worked a leadoff walk but was erased on a fielder's choice. Scroggins ripped a grounder to second which bounced off of the second baseman into right field allowing Campanella to race to third and Scroggins to move up to second. After a foul out, Zehnder ripped a two-run double to left field center to make it 6-3. 
 
The Pioneers capped off the scoring in the sixth inning. Ozuna led off with an opposite-field single and Patton looped a double off the foul line in right to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Gildersleeve capitalized when she drilled a fly ball over the left fielder's head to push the advantage to 8-3 with one out. 
 
Pacific Lutheran put two runners on in the top of the seventh but Pope came through with her fifth strikeout out of the game to close it out. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Friday's win marked softball's first-ever NWC Tournament win in their second-ever NWC Tournament appearance. The Pioneers went 0-2 during the 2021 NWC Tournament. 
• With the victory, Lewis & Clark earned their 10^th-straight win away from home (first neutral-site win of the season). The Pioneers also snapped Pacific Lutheran's 13-game winning streak in the process. Lewis & Clark has won four of the five contests this season against PLU. 
• In five meetings this season against the Lutes, Gildersleeve (eight) and Campanella (seven) have combined for 15 RBI. 
• O'Leary improved to 3-0 in three starts against PLU. Pioneers pitchers have combined to strike out 29 batters and have walked just seven in their five meetings with the Lutes. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
#2 Lewis & Clark will take on #1 Linfield on Saturday at Noon in the winner's bracket. The Wildcats held off #4 Willamette University 6-5 in eight innings in the first game of the 2024 NWC Tournament.