NEWBERG, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball combined to score 11 runs in the first innings of Tuesday's doubleheader, to earn a doubleheader sweep of George Fox University and wrap up the regular season with their sixth NWC series victory. 
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 5, George Fox 1
Lewis & Clark 10, George Fox (5 Innings)
(Lewis & Clark 26-14, NWC 20-8) 
(George Fox 19-21, NWC 12-16) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Sam Gildersleeve and Harper Campanella each hit three-run home runs and sophomore pitchers Maggie O'Leary and Charlize Pope combined to strikeout 13 and allowed no earned runs over 10 innings of work. 
 
With the sweep, Lewis & Clark wrapped up the regular-season with a program record 26 wins and 20 conference victories. The Pioneers earned a series win over every NWC opponents except NWC Champions and the #1 ranked team in NCAA DIII Linfield University. The two wins also ended George Fox's season – as the Bruins needed at least two wins in the four-game series to have a chance to extend their eight-year streak of competing in the NWC Tournament. 
 
Lewis & Clark will open NWC play on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. when the second-seeded Pioneers take on #3 Pacific Lutheran University at Linfield University. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark struck for three runs in the first and pushed their lead to 5-0 after five innings to secure their 25^thwin of the season. 
 
O'Leary limited the Bruins to two singles, no walks and no runs over six innings pitched. She struck out seven to move into second-place in program history for strikeouts in a single-season (105). 
 
Mari Alvarez, Katie Ingersoll and Campanella each posted two hits apiece. Alvarez went 2-4 with two runs scored and a double. Campanella added two hits, a double and an RBI and Ingersoll tacked on two hits and a run scored. Gina Ozuna chipped in a hit, a run scored an RBI and a walk. 
 
Lewis & Clark needed just four batters to grab a 3-0 lead. Ozuna opened the frame with a walk and raced to third on an Alvarez one-out double. Both players were able to trot home after Gildersleeve obliterated a three-run homer deep into the trees behind the center-field fence. 
 
The visitors would add to their lead in the second. Emily Patton singled to lead off the inning and took second on a sac bunt. Patton was thrown out trying to come home on a weird play that involved a Bruins error at first base and Kate Ingersoll racing all the way to third base after hitting a ball that never left the infield. Ozuna delivered a two-out RBI single to score Ingersoll and make it 4-0. 
 
George Fox struggled to get anything going against O'Leary. Senior Kamryn Potter singled with one out in the first and moved to second on a passed ball but O'Leary would retire the next 11 batters in a row. 
 
The Pioneers added to their lead in the fifth. Madison Scroggins started the inning with a single and Alvarez followed with a single of her own. With two down, Campanella doubled to right field and Alvarez raced home to extend the lead to 5-0. 
 
George Fox put a runner on third in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a single, an error and a wild pitch. O'Leary struck out the next three batters to keep the Bruins off the board. 
 
The Bruins managed to avoid the shutout in the seventh. Freshman Ryan Jurischk retired two of the first three batters she faced but Nicole Campa delivered a two-out RBI double to make it 5-1. Jurischk induced a fly out to center field to close out the win. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark struck for eight, two-out runs in the top of the first and Pope and freshman Sofia Garcia combined to limit the Bruins to five hits. 
 
Pope matched O'Leary by earning her 12^th win in 18 decisions this season (12-6). The sophomore went four innings and scattered three hits and one unearned run. She added six strikeouts. Garcia pitched the fifth inning and allowed two hits and one run. 
 
Ozuna (1-3, two runs, one double) and Campanella (1-3, one run, one homer) each posted a team-high three RBI. Senior Alyssa Hoeke went 2-2 with two runs, two RBI and a walk and Ingersoll added a hit and two runs. 
 
Lewis & Clark pounced all over the Bruins in the top of the first with eight runs on five hits and three walks. 
 
Ozuna opened the inning by reaching on an error. After each of the next two batters grounded out, Gildersleeve walked and Campanella crushed a three-run homer over the scoreboard in left field. Megan Yanagi kept the rally going with a walk and McKenna Zehnder followed with a single and both runners moved up 60 feet on the throw to third base. Hoeke made it 5-0 when she doubled down the left-field line to score both runners. After a pitching change, Ingersoll reached on a fielder's choice to put runners at the corners. Ozuna pushed the lead to 7-0 with a two-run double to left-center field. Patton closed out the scoring with an RBI single to right. Alvarez walked to make it nine batters in a row reaching, before reliever Kiley Harris induced a pop up to shortstop. 
 
The Pioneers made it 10-0 in the third inning. Hoeke worked a leadoff walk and took second on a passed ball. After an Ingersoll single put runners at the corners, Ozuna drove in Hoeke with an RBI ground out. Alvarez added a two-out RBI single to left field to give the Pioneers their largest lead of the series. 
 
George Fox managed an unearned run in the third and a two-out run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 10-2. Garcia retired Campa with a fly out to center to strand a runner on base and end the game after just five innings. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• O'Leary moved into second place in program history for strikeouts in a single-season (105). O'Leary's seven strikeouts in game one helped her become the third pitcher in program history to post 100 or more strikeouts in a single-season. 
• Lewis & Clark set the single-season program record for hits on Tuesday. The Pioneers racked up 11 hits in game one and nine more in game two to push their total to 345 hits for the season. The 2016 team set the previous record with 335 hits in 40 games. 
• Ozuna set the single-season program record for doubles (13) with her two-run double in the top of the first inning of game two. 
• Pope and O'Leary each earned their career-high 12^th wins of the season. The duo are now tied for the fourth in program history for wins in a single-season. 
• Tuesday's game two victory was the Pioneers first run-rule victory over George Fox since April 16, 2009. The Pioneers had not won three in a row against the Bruins since taking the final three games of the series against George Fox in 2009. 
• After outscoring George Fox 11-0 in the first inning on Tuesday, the Pioneers have now outscored their opponents 53-27 in the first inning this season.  
• The Pioneers improved to 16-6 in road games this season and have now won nine-straight away from the Huston Sports Complex. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to McMinnville this weekend for the 2024 NWC Softball Tournament. The #2 Pioneers will take on #3 Pacific Lutheran on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and then will resume action on Sunday at either noon (with a loss to PLU) or 2:30 p.m. (with a win over PLU). The tournament will conclude on Sunday with the NWC Championship Series.