MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball used a hot start to the day to earn their second-straight appearance in the Northwest Conference Championship Series, but fell to #1 Linfield to close out their 2025 NWC Tournament. 

THE BASICS
#2 Lewis & Clark 7, #3 George Fox University 5
#1 Linfield 8, #2 Lewis & Clark 0 (5 Innings) 
(Lewis & Clark 31-11) 
(George Fox 26-17) 
(Linfield 38-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Senior Caeleigh Rosenbach and sophomore Makena Dahir each posted two hits and two RBI to lead the Pioneers past the Bruins in a must-win game for two teams battling for a potential at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Both players came through with RBI hits during a six-run bottom of the second inning that proved to be the difference in the opening contest. 
 
Lewis & Clark officially is in the field of 64 teams. They are ranked 35^th in the final NCAA Power Index (NPI) and will be one of 22 teams to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA DIII Tournament. The Pioneers will learn where they will be playing and their first opponent on Monday morning at 8 a.m. (Pacific), when the NCAA airs the NCAA DIII Softball Selection Show on NCAA.com. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Lewis & Clark sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning and used strong outings from junior Maggie O'Leary and sophomore Ryan Jurischk to avenge a loss on Friday to George Fox. 
 
Rosenbach started and ended the big second inning. The senior catcher went 2-3 with two RBI, including a two-run single to make it 6-1. Dahir added two hits, two RBI, a run scored and a double. 
 
Senior Sam Gildersleeve added two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Junior Gina Ozuna chipped in a base hit, a run scored and an RBI as well. 
 
O'Leary became the first pitcher in program history to ever win 20 games in a season. She scattered seven hits, three walks and four earned runs over five innings. The junior tacked on three strikeouts to pick up her second win of the weekend. 
 
Jurischk added her first collegiate save. The sophomore allowed a solo home run in two innings of work. 
 
Lewis & Clark handed Nicole Ledendecker her first loss in four starts against the Pioneers this season. The first year was charged with three hits, three walks and six runs (three earned) in 1.1 innings. Reliever Allison Heater allowed six hits and one run over the final 4.2 innings. 
 
George Fox got off to a quick start to the game when senior Sharon Tomei hit the first pitch over the left-field fence for her NCAA DIII leading 21^st homer of the year. The Bruins would put a runner on third with just one out, but O'Leary would record a fly out to right and then strike out the next batter to keep the score 1-0. 
 
Lewis & Clark loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning but Ledendecker induced a fly out to left to keep the score 1-0. 
 
The Pioneers used small ball and took advantage of some Bruins miscues to strike for six runs in the second inning. 
 
Rosenbach drilled a hard grounder past the third baseman for a single to start the frame. Cami Restagno bunted Rosenbach over to second for the first out. Junior Emily Patton followed with a single and took second on the throw home to put two runners in scoring position. Both runners came home when the second base fielded Ozuna's grounder and threw it wide of first base to allow pinch-runner Katie Ingersoll and Patton to score. Madison Scroggins and Mari Alvarez would work back-to-back walk to load the bases and force a pitching change. Dahir made it 3-1 Pioneers with a single through the left-side that plated Scroggins. After a fielder's choice erased the lead runner for the second out, Rosenbach singled through the right side to score Gildersleeve and Dahir to make it 6-1. 
 
George Fox would not go down without a fight. Tomei walked to lead off the third and senior catcher Sydney Sandifer hit her 47th career home run to make it 6-3. The next two batters would reach on a walk and a bunt single, before Kiley Harris popped up a bunt. Alvarez grabbed the bunt in the air and threw back to first base to double off the runner. O'Leary would get the next batter to pop up to Ozuna at second to end the frame. 
 
Lewis & Clark added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Alvarez led off with a hit by pitch and junior Lola Jarrette pinch ran for her. Jarrette took second on a Gildersleeve ground out and raced home on a Dahir double down the left-field line. 
 
The Bruins cut the deficit to 7-4 in the fifth. George Fox loaded the bases with one out on two singles and a walk. Kiley Harris hit a fly ball to the wall in foul territory in left field that may have been going over the fence, but Madison Scroggins leapt to make the play for the second out. While a run would score on the sac fly, O'Leary would strike out the next batter looking to leave two runners on. 
 
George Fox would add one final run in the seventh. Tomei hit a solo shot to straight away center to make it 7-5. Sandifer would reach on an error to bring the tying run to the plate. Jurischk would settle in from there and post three-straight fly outs to seal the win. 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Top-seeded and nationally-ranked Linfield struck for five runs in the bottom of the first inning to cruise to their seventh-straight NWC Tournament Title. 
 
Senior Katie Ingersoll, Dahir, Alvarez and Ozuna all recorded singles for the Pioneers in the loss. 
 
O'Leary took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) in the first inning. Jurischk threw three innings in relief and scattered four hits and three runs. Junior Charlize Pope made her first appearance of the weekend in the fourth and allowed one hit, one walk and no runs and struck out one. 
 
Linfield sophomore ace Tyler McNeley struck out seven and gave up no runs to move to 25-2. 
 
The Wildcats grabbed control of the game with a five-run first. They used three hits and two walks to the first five batters, to score all the runs they would need. 
 
The sixth-ranked team in the nation added their final three runs in the second inning. 
 
Lewis & Clark would put runners on board in every inning, but couldn't scratch across a run. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• With their game one win, the Pioneers reached the 31-win mark for the season. The Pioneers 31 wins are tied for the most by a Lewis & Clark team (in any sport) since 1989 - when the volleyball team won 33 matches. The 31 wins are tied with the 1990 and 2023 baseball teams for the sixth-most wins by a Lewis & Clark team in school history. 
• Softball set the single-season record for hit by pitches (36) in game one. They tied the program record for RBI (254) and doubles (68) in a single-season in game one.  
• First year Chloe Reams made her NWC Tournament debut as a pinch-hitter against Linfield. Sophomore Sofia Garcia and Ingersoll each earned their first at-bats of the weekend in Sunday's finale. 
• The Pioneers split six games (3-3) against George Fox over a 10-day span. The Pioneers outscored the Bruins 28-25 across those six games. George Fox ended up ranked 47^th in the NPI, after starting the day 40th overall, and will not make the NCAA DIII Tournament. 
• With her game one win, O'Leary now has 10 more victories (38) than anyone else in program history with a senior season still to come. She is 34-15 over the past two seasons. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will learn where they are going and who will join them on Monday at 8 a.m., when the NCAA airs the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com. The Pioneers will compete in a four-team, double-elimination Regional starting on Thursday, May 15.