MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—Nationally-ranked Linfield University handed Lewis & Clark College softball their first back-to-back losses in nearly a year on Friday night, in a rematch of last year's Northwest Conference Championship Series.
THE BASICS
#4 Linfield 11, Lewis & Clark 0 (5 Innings)
#4 Linfield 6, Lewis & Clark 2
(Lewis & Clark 22-6, NWC 14-4)
(Linfield 26-2, NWC 16-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats raced past the Pioneers in the opener and used a three-run, third inning, to secure the sweep. It was the first time Lewis & Clark has been swept in a doubleheader since the two teams met last year in Portland, with Linfield securing four tight victories on April 20-21.
Junior
Lacey Marglin went 2-3 with an RBI in game two to finish as the lone Pioneer with multiple hits on Friday. Junior
Madison Scroggins posted the team's lone hit in game one and scored a run in game two.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Wildcats pounced on the Lewis & Clark with six runs in the first inning and used three home runs to hand the Pioneers their first mercy-rule loss of the season.
Claire Seats finished the contest 3-3 with three runs, four RBI and three extra-base hits to lead the home team.
Scroggins went 1-1 out of the nine-hole and added a stolen base. Marglin worked a walk to account for the Pioneers other baserunner against Linfield sophomore Tyler McNeley.
Sophomore
Ryan Jurischk pitched four innings of relief and allowed nine hits and six runs. Junior
Charlize Pope got the start in the contest.
Linfield put the game away in the opening five batters, as they scored five runs on four hits and a walk.
The Wildcats added three runs in the third and two more in the fourth.
Scroggins recorded Lewis & Clark's lone hit in the third, when she lined a single down the left-field line with one out. She stole second but was stranded there after a strikeout ended the frame.
GAME TWO RECAP
Lewis & Clark grabbed a 1-0 lead and were much more competitive in every facet of the game in a 6-2 game two loss.
Marglin finished 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Junior
Emily Patton finished 1-3 with a run scored and graduate student
Mari Alvarez added a hit and an RBI.
Junior
Maggie O'Leary took the loss after scattering eight hits, three walks and six earned runs over six innings. She added two strikeouts.
Tyler Warden got the start for Linfield and went three innings and allowed three hits, one walk and one run. The Wildcats went back to McNeley for the final four frames and she held the Pioneers to two hits and one run, while striking out four.
Lewis & Clark grabbed the lead in the top of the first.
Gina Ozuna reached on a hit by pitch but was erased on Scroggins groundout. With two down, sophomore
Makena Dahir singled and Scroggins raced to third. Marglin followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0.
Linfield tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first and added a two-out RBI single in the second to make it 2-1.
The Wildcats took control of the game in the third when Jacey Levas hit a three-run homer to push the lead to 5-1.
Lewis & Clark tried to answer back in the fourth. Marglin led off with the Pioneers lone extra-base hit of the day: a double to right-center. She moved to third on a
Megan Yanagi fly out but was thrown out at home on a squeeze play.
The Pioneers managed to scratch a run across in the fifth. Patton led off with an infield single and moved to second on an Ozuna groundout. With two down, Alvarez delivered an RBI single to right field to make it 5-2.
McNeley retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh to close out the win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Marglin has hit safely in five of her last six games and is hitting .555 (10-18) during that span with four runs and four RBI. She has started the last 11 games.
- The Pioneers suffered their first mercy-rule loss since falling 12-4 (six inning) to Linfield in game one of last year's series (April 20). Those are softball's only two mercy-rule losses in the past two seasons.
- Lewis & Clark's pitching staff failed to strike out a batter in game one on Friday. It's the first time this season the Pioneers have finished with zero strikeouts.
WHO'S NEXT
The Pioneers will return to McMinnville on Saturday, for games three and four of the series. The opening pitch in schedule for 1 p.m.
