FOREST GROVE, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball started their 2025 season right where they left off in 2024, strong, balanced offense paired with power pitching, in a season-opening sweep of Pacific University. 
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 9, Pacific 2
Lewis & Clark 12, Pacific 5
(Lewis & Clark 2-0) 
(Pacific 0-2) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Junior Maggie O'Leary struck out 15 batters in 10 innings and the Pioneers offense piled up 22 hits and 21 runs to sweep the Boxers in a rare non-conference doubleheader between Northwest Conference teams. 
 
Sophomore Makena Dahir led the offensive attack with four hits and two RBI in game one. In the nightcap, junior Gina Ozuna finished with three runs and four RBI to help Lewis & Clark start 2-0 for the second time in three seasons. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
O'Leary turned in a dominant performance in the circle and Lewis & Clark scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to blow the game wide open. 
 
O'Leary allowed one hit, a solo home run in the top of the fifth, and struck out 10 in her first appearance of her junior season. She allowed just one walk through the first four innings, before giving up a solo home run to the leadoff batter to start the fifth. Sophomore Ryan Jurischk came on for the final two frames and struck out two while allowing two hits and one run. 
 
Dahir contributed four of the team's nine hits. She finished 4-4 with a run scored and two RBI in her first collegiate season-opening game start. 
 
Junior Cami Restagno and senior Sam Gildersleeve each added a hit and two RBI and senior Katie Ingersoll scored twice. 
 
The Pioneers opened the scoring in the second. Sophomore Harper Campanella and Dahir opened the rally with back-to-back one-out singles. With two down and both runners in scoring position, Restagno laced a single to center to make it 2-0. 
 
After scoring a single run on an error in the third to make it 3-0, Lewis & Clark blew the game open in the fifth. Ingersoll walked and Ozuna singled to put two runners on with no outs. After back-to-back outs, Gildersleeve ripped a two-run single to left to push the lead to 5-0. Campanella walked to put runners at the corners and junior Lacey Marglin pinch ran for her. Dahir crushed a double to the wall in left field to plate both runners and make it 7-0. 
 
Lewis & Clark added single runs in each of the final two frames. Junior Emily Patton pushed the lead to 8-1 with a two-out RBI single that scored Ingersoll in the sixth. Senior Caeleigh Rosenbach hit a sac fly to center in the seventh to score Marglin. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Pacific cut the Pioneers early lead to 5-4 in the third, only for Lewis & Clark to score seven of the final eight runs. 
 
Ozuna, Ingersoll, junior McKenna Zehnder, Gildersleeve and Marglin each posted multiple hits as Lewis & Clark recorded 13 hits, 12 runs and four extra-base hits in game two. 
 
Ozuna finished the contest 2-3 with three runs, four RBI and the team's first home run of the season. Ingersoll went a perfect 2-2 with two runs, two RBI and a triple. Zehnder tacked on two hits and two runs scored and Marglin (double) and Gildersleeve (triple) each finished with two hits, a run scored, an RBI and an extra-base hit. 
 
Junior Charlize Pope earned the start and went the opening two innings, allowing three hits, four walks and four runs (three earned). Pope added one strikeout. O'Leary came on for the final five innings and held the visitors to four hits and one run, while adding on five more strikeouts. 
 
Lewis & Clark took advantage of three Boxers defensive miscues to grab a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Ozuna (walk) and Patton (reached on an error) each scored in the frame. 
 
The Pioneers made it 4-0 in the second. Zehnder led off with a single and raced home on Ingersoll's RBI trip to left. Ozuna pushed the lead to 4-0 with a sacrifice fly to center. 
 
Just as it looked as if Lewis & Clark might be racing towards a mercy-rule win, Pacific struck for two runs in the bottom of the second. 
 
The Pioneers answered with a run of their own in the third on a Gildersleeve triple and a Mari Alvarez squeeze bunt. 
 
Pacific cut the deficit to 5-4 after three behind a two-run homer from Addison McPherson. 
 
Lewis & Clark used a pair of three-run innings (fourth and sixth) to regain control and cruise to the win. 
 
In the fourth, Zehnder led off with a single and scored on Ingersoll's RBI single to right. Ozuna made it 7-0 with a two-run homer over the right-field fence. 
 
The Pioneers reached double-figures in the sixth. Marglin sparked the rally with a one-out single and scored on an Ozuna RBI single. With two down and Ozuna on third, Campanella lifted a single to right field to make it 9-4. Senior Pippi Jepsen came on to run for Campanella and stole second, before scoring on an infield, RBI single by Gildersleeve.
 
Lewis & Clark wrapped up the scoring in the seventh when Marglin delivered a two-out, RBI double to score Zehnder from second. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Eight Pioneers finished Saturday with multiple hits and 10 players finished with at least one hit. 
• First year Chloe Reams made her collegiate debut in game two as the team's starting catcher. She finished the game 0-1 and posted one putout. 
• O'Leary finished the day allowing two runs, both on solo homers, in 10 innings of action. 
• Lewis & Clark finished the day 9-10 on the base paths. Patton (4-4) and Gildersleeve (3-3) combined for seven steals. 
• The Pioneers swept Pacific in a doubleheader for the fourth time in their last five meetings. Lewis & Clark is 9-1 against the Boxers dating back to 2023. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will open Northwest Conference play next weekend, when they take on Willamette University for a four-game set. The two teams will meet on Saturday and Sunday in Salem with the games scheduled for Noon and 2 p.m. on Day One and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Day Two.