SALEM, Ore. - Pacific Lutheran hit a total of six home runs - three by Kaaren Hatlen - in sweeping away Willamette in a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader played Friday afternoon at WU Softball Field.
The Lutes crushed four homers in taking the opener, 10-2, and added two more in the second game, which ended with a 7-2 score.
PLU, now 17-9 overall and 10-4 this season, trails Linfield by two games but gets a chance to catch up tomorrow as the two teams play a doubleheader in McMinnville.
Game One - PLU 10, Willamette 2
Willamette took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run single by Allison Martin, but the Lutes took the momentum with a four-run fourth inning.
With one out, Amanda Hall and Hatlen hit back-to-back solo home runs on consecutive pitches, and later in the inning Lindsey Matsunaga and Glenelle Nitta drove in runs with singles to give Pacific Lutheran a 4-2 lead.
PLU added three runs in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run single by Hatlen, followed by a run-scoring double just inside the third base bag by Kelsey Robinson.
Willamette looked on the brink of cutting into its five-run deficit by putting runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Robinson coaxed a comebacker to squelch the threat.
The Lutes used the long ball to add three insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Hall hit her second homer of the game and third of the year, a two-run shot, and pinch hitter Emily Streeter clubbed her second home run of the season later in the inning.
Robinson ended up going the distance in the circle for the Lutes, allowing two unearned runs on nine hits. She walked none and struck out three while improving her season record to 7-3.
Hall, Hatlen and Spencer Sherwin all had a pair of hits for the Lutes, with Hall and Hatlen both driving in three runs and Hall scoring three.
Game Two - PLU 7, Willamette 2
Hatlen put the Lutes on top with a two-run homer in the opening inning, and then she went to work in the pitcher's circle, retiring the first nine batters she faced. Jenna King led off the fourth with a single for the Bearcats, who didn't get another runner on base until they scored their two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a walk and home run by Kelli Snyder.
In the meantime, the Lutes continued their offensive assault against the Willamette pitching staff. After collecting 13 hits in the opener, they came back to register 10 more hits in the second game, including two each by Sherwin, Montessa Califano and Hatlen.
Califano hit a double and eventually scored on an error in the top of the third to increase the advantage to 3-0, and the Lutes broke the game open with four more runs in the fourth. In that rally, which started with two outs, Sherwin hit a double and Califano followed with a run-scoring single. After a fielding error kept the inning alive, Hatlen made the Bearcats pay by launching a three-run homer to center field. It was the third home run of the day and seventh of the season for the 2012 first team All-American.
Hatlen's final pitching line showed seven innings with two runs, two hit, one walk and two strikeouts. With the win, she improved her record to 6-4.
- PLU -
