PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball broke out with seven runs in the second inning of game two to earn an 8-1 victory to secure their highest-ever finish in Northwest Conference play on Senior Day. 
 
THE BASICS
George Fox 6, Lewis & Clark 5
Lewis & Clark 8, George Fox 1
(Lewis & Clark 24-14, NWC 18-8)
(George Fox 19-19, NWC 12-14) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Prior to the game, Lewis & Clark honored seniors Cassidy Crusberg and Alyssa Hoeke. The Pioneers two seniors were playing their final career home games at the Huston Sports Complex. The day ended with a celebration as well as Lewis & Clark wrapped up the two seed in next week's NWC Tournament. It marks the program's highest-ever finish since the NWC added softball in 1986. 
 
Senior Sam Gildersleeve, who's coming back for a fifth season, hit her 35^th career home run, set the program record for runs scored in a single-season (34) and drove in five runs in the doubleheader. The Pioneers three-four-five hitters of Mari Alvarez, Gildersleeve and Harper Campanella combined to go 8-17 with 10 RBI and five runs scored. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
The Bruins jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 6-2 and held off a late Lewis & Clark comeback charge to keep their own playoff hopes alive. 
 
 The Pioneers big three of Alvarez, Gildersleeve and Campanella did the majority of the damage against George Fox's top two pitchers in the opener. Gildersleeve went 3-4 with a run scored and two RBI and Campanella added two hits, two RBI and a walk. Alvarez reached four times and finished 1-2 with a run scored, an RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch. Sophomore Gina Ozuna added two hits and two runs out of the leadoff spot. 
 
Crusberg made her first start of the season in the circle and first appearance at home in over a calendar year. The senior went the opening 1.2 innings and allowed two hits, four walks and four runs (two earned). Sophomore Maggie O'Leary went the final 5.1 innings. She scattered five hits, two walks and two earned runs. O'Leary struck out six to bring her season total to 98. 
 
George Fox junior Elise Wilkinson earned the win after relieving ace Emma Eastman. Wilkinson went the final 4.1 innings and allowed five hits, one walk and three earned runs to help George Fox snap a six-game losing streak. 
 
After the Bruins struck for two runs in the top of the first, Lewis & Clark immediately responded. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Alvarez was hit by a pitch and took second on a passed ball. She raced home when Gildersleeve lined a single off the shortstop's glove into left field. With Gildersleeve on second base, Campanella singled up the middle to tie the game at 2-2. 
 
George Fox took the lead back in the second. Crusberg walked the bases loaded before getting a pop up to second for the second out of the inning. The Pioneers went to O'Leary to try to get Sharon Tomei out but Tomei hit a soft infield single to score the go-ahead run and the Bruins added another run on a pitch that got to the backstop to make it 4-2. 
 
Lewis & Clark loaded the bases in the third but Wilkinson induced a ground out to second to keep the Pioneers at bay. 
 
The Bruins doubled their lead in the next half inning. Kamryn Potter was given a walk after O'Leary was called for an illegal pitch during a lengthy at-bat. Sandifer then lofted a fly ball out to left field that just barely cleared the fence for a 6-2 lead. 
 
The Pioneers cut the deficit to three in the fifth. Ozuna singled to lead off the inning to snap a stretch of four consecutive innings where the first two Pioneers batters were retired. Ozuna moved to second on a groundout, third on an error and scored on a Gildersleeve RBI single. With the tying run at the plate, Wilkinson retired the next two batters on ground outs. 
 
Lewis & Clark had one final rally in the seventh. Ozuna led off the frame with a single, took second on a ground out and raced home when Alvarez ripped an RBI single off the glove of the third baseman to make it 6-4. With two down, Campanella added her second RBI single of the game to plate pinch runner Pippi Jepsen. Wilkinson got out of the inning on a diving effort from shortstop Aliya Harmon who then glove flipped the ball to second for the final out. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark exploded for seven runs in the second inning and used another excellent outing from Charlize Pope to cruise to an 8-1 win. 
 
Pope moved into a tie for first on the team with her 11^th win of the season. The sophomore scattered five hits, four walks and one run over seven innings. She tacked on two strikeouts. 
 
Sophomore Emily Patton went 2-2 with a run scored, two RBI and a double. Sophomore Madison Scroggins tacked on two hits, a run scored and an RBI and Gildersleeve crushed a three-run homer. 
 
Lewis & Clark grabbed the momentum in the top of the second. Tomei hit a high fly ball to the wall in left field that went just over the Pioneers' left fielder's glove but stayed in for a leadoff double. With Tomei at third and one out, Nicole Campa hit a sharp grounder to short and Patton fielded the ball and threw home to get Tomei trying to score. 
 
Lewis & Clark capitalized in the bottom half of the inning with seven runs on four hits. Campanella opened the frame with a walk and McKenna Zehnder was hit by a pitch. After a wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, George Fox went to their bullpen to replace Kiley Harris. Patton greeted sophomore reliever Madelyn Loughary with a line drive single to center field that easily scored both runners. Junior Katie Ingersoll worked a one-out walk and Scroggins ripped a single just inside the first-base bag to score Patton to make it 3-0 with two down. Alvarez followed with an RBI single through the left side to push the lead to 4-0. Gildersleeve broke the game wide-open when she hit a line-drive, three-run homer to left that never got higher than 15 feet off the ground. 
 
George Fox would threaten to score in the third and fourth but managed just one run. In the third, Pope walked the bases loaded but induced a sharply hit grounder to Zehnder at third who scooped it up and threw across to Abby Yamashita at first base who made a nice scoop for the third out of the frame. 
 
The Bruins scored their lone run in the fourth. Tinley Taylor floated a fly ball in between the second baseman and right fielder for a leadoff double and Taylor came in to score on a one-out RBI fielder's choice to shortstop. 
 
Lewis & Clark added their eighth and final run in the sixth. After three-straight scoreless innings against Harris, the Pioneers scored a single run. Ozuna worked a leadoff walk and then Hoeke added an infield single. The Bruins third baseman threw the ball into the Pioneers' dugout on the play to put runners at second and third with no outs. Alvarez followed with a line drive to center to score Ozuna. Harris would retire the final two batters to extend the game to one final inning. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• With the win, Lewis & Clark finishes their first season on their renovated field 10-8 at home. 
• Gildersleeve's home run in game two gave her a single-season record 34 runs on the season. She broke a tie with Linda Kelly who scored 33 times during the 1976 season. Gildersleeve also moved into sole possession of second place in program history in career runs scored (85). 
• The Pioneers second-place finish is their best-ever finish in NWC play. Their previous best NWC finish was in 1990 when they placed third out of five teams. 
• O'Leary moved into third place for a single-season in strikeouts in game one. She is two strikeouts away from becoming the third pitcher in program history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season and four from moving into a tie for second place with Monique Radman (102 in 1999). O'Leary is now sitting on 147 career strikeouts which is tied for ninth in program history. She needs three to become the eighth pitcher in program history to reach 150 for a career. 
• Gildersleeve moved into the top three in program history in career and single-season RBI on Friday. With her five RBI, she now sits second all-time in program history with 92. She also moved into a tie for third-most RBI in a single-season (36) with former teammate Olivia Brackin (2019 season). 
• Pope, the reigning NWC Pitcher of the Week, has now allowed one run or fewer in four consecutive outings. She's posted a 0.73 ERA over 19 innings during that span. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will close out the regular season on Sunday when they travel to George Fox for a doubleheader scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The Pioneers can secure their sixth NWC win if they sweep the Bruins on Sunday.