PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball completed their second-straight, four-game sweep to open Northwest Conference play, with a pair of mercy-rule wins over visiting Pacific University on Sunday afternoon.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 9, Pacific 1 (5 Innings)
Lewis & Clark 10, Pacific 1 (5 Innings)
(Lewis & Clark 12-0, NWC 8-0)
(Pacific 3-7, NWC 3-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pioneers racked up 19 runs on 19 hits and held the Boxers to just two runs on eight hits to stay undefeated.
Junior
Emily Patton and sophomores
Makena Dahir and
Harper Campanella all finished with a team-high three hits on Sunday. Patton went 3-5 with two runs, three RBI and a stolen base. Dahir added three hits in five at-bats, one run and four RBI and belted her team-leading, third home run. Campanella chipped in three hits in six trips to the plate, two runs and three RBI.
GAME ONE RECAP
Lewis & Clark used a seven-run third inning to take control of the game and junior
Maggie O'Leary and sophomore
Ryan Jurischk combined to hold Pacific to just three hits.
Dahir went 2-2 in the opener with a run scored and her second three-run homer of the week. Patton finished 2-3 with a run scored and two RBI. Senior Sam Gilderleeve (one RBI) and junior
Gina Ozuna each added a hit and two runs scored.
O'Leary improved to 9-0 after throwing the opening four inning. She scattered three hits, one walk, one run and struck out two. Jurishck threw a one-two-three inning to close out the win.
Pacific took their second lead of the series in the top of the second when Ava Hlaveck delivered a sacrifice fly to score Ellie Ishikawa.
Lewis & Clark responded with their biggest inning of the season thus far in the third. The Pioneers scored seven runs on seven hits and one Pacific error. Junior
McKenna Zehnder opened the frame with a single and raced home on a Boxers throwing error. Ozuna followed with a bunt single and Dahir belted a three-run home run to score
Lacey Marglin and Ozuna. Campanella and Gildersleeve followed with singles and graduate student
Mari Alvarez made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly. Patton and junior
Lola Jarrette each followed with RBI singles to extend the lead to 7-1.
Lewis & Clark tacked on two final runs in the fourth. The Pioneers loaded the bases on a pair of errors and a walk. Gildersleeve plated Ozuna with an RBI groundout and Patton came through with a two-out RBI single to score Gildersleeve.
GAME TWO RECAP
Lewis & Clark scored in all four inning and used 10 hits and five Boxers errors to post their fourth mercy-rule win in eight NWC contests.
Campanella and junior
Cami Restagno each finished with multiple-hit games. Campanella went 2-3 with a run scored and three RBI. Restagno tacked on two hits in three at-bats, a run scored and an RBI. Junior
Madison Scroggins, Ozuna and Gildersleeve each chipped in two runs apiece.
Pope picked up her third win of the season by going four innings. She limited Pacific to five hits (four singles and one double) and one run. Pope struck out two and walked one. Jurischk came on for the fifth inning and limited Pacific to one walk.
After going down 1-0 in the top of the first, Lewis & Clark grabbed the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Ozuna led off with a walk, stole second and took third on a throwing error. She raced home on a Campanella RBI single with one out. Gildersleeve reached on a hit by pitch and Alvarez made it 2-0 with an RBI single up the middle. Patton tacked on a third run with a sacrifice fly.
The Pioneers added two more runs in the second. Scroggins reached on an error and Ozuna followed with a double. With two down, Campanella singled to left field to drive in both runners.
Lewis & Clark tacked on four more runs in the third. Alvarez led off with a walk, Patton followed with a bunt single and Zehnder moved pinch-runner
Pippi Jepsen and Patton into scoring position with a sac bunt. Restagno started the scoring with an RBI bunt single and the Pioneers added a second run on a Scroggins bunt that the Boxers threw away. Ozuna plated Restagno with an RBI groundout and Dahir chipped in an RBI single to score Scroggins.
The hosts scored their final run of the weekend in the fourth. Gildersleeve led off with a single and took third base on a steal and throwing error. Sophomore
Abby Yamashita delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to make it 10-1.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lewis & Clark is hitting .399 as a team this season and averaging 9.83 runs per game (118 in 12 games). All 11 Pioneers with 10 or more at-bats this season are hitting above .300.
- Yamashita delivered her first hit of the season in game two. Fellow sophomore Sophia Garcia made her season debut in game two and reached on a fielder's choice.
- The Pioneers outscored Pacific 39-8 over the weekend and racked up a 42-18 advantage in hits. Lewis & Clark's pitching staff posted a 2.55 ERA, while Pacific ended the weekend with an 11.07 staff ERA. Lewis & Clark finished the weekend with zero errors. On the flip side, Pacific was charged with 13 errors.
- Lewis & Clark outscored Pacific 15-0 in the third inning across their four games. On the season, the Pioneers have scored 27 of their 118 runs (22.9%) in the third inning.
- O'Leary earned her 27th win of her career on Sunday. She is one win shy of tying Jauna Williams (1999, 2001-03) and Alyssa Abe (2020-23) for the program record for career wins. O'Leary also went over the 200-strikeout milestone for her career with her three strikeouts in game one (201).
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will be off until next Sunday, when they travel to Clermont, Florida for The Spring Games. The Pioneers will take on Colby College (7 am Pacific) and Hamline University (9:15 am Pacific) in the first of three non-conference doubleheaders.
