McMINNVILLE, Ore. - After suffering an 11-2 run-rule loss to Whitworth in the opening game of the Northwest Conference Softball Tournament on Saturday, Pacific Lutheran kept hope - and its season - alive with a 7-0 victory over Pacific in an elimination game.
The defending NCAA Division III national champion Lutes, now 26-16 for the season, will play Whitworth in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Sunday, with the winner advancing to the tournament championship against unbeaten Linfield. The host Wildcats beat Pacific in their Saturday morning opener, 4-3, before blasting Whitworth, 12-0 in five innings on Saturday night.
If PLU beats Whitworth, it would have to defeat Linfield twice to win the conference tournament and with it a berth in the Division III national playoffs. Without that title, the Lutes likely will see their season come to an end.
Game One - Whitworth 11, PLU 2 (5 innings)
It all fell apart for the Lutes in the first inning when the Pirates scored four runs. Starting pitcher Kaaren Hatlen couldn't find the strike zone and walked the first three batters. Leah Butters came into the game and Heather Hesselgesser greeted her with a two-run double. Megan John followed with a run-scoring single, and Julie Johnson made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly.
The Lutes got a run back in the bottom of the first when Montessa Califano led off with a single and eventually scored on a Whitworth error, but the Pirates added two more runs on three hits in the second inning, including Hesselgesser's run-scoring single. The Pirates made it 10-1 with four more in the top of the fourth, with Johnson clubbing a three-run homer to highlight the inning.
PLU scored its final run in the fourth on a double by Hatlen, a single by Kelsey Robinson and a RBI ground out by Lindsey Matsunaga, before Whitworth scored the game's final tally on a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.
Hesselgesser had two hits and three RBI and Johnson drove in four runs for the Pirates, while Califano had three hits and Robinson two for the Lutes, who finished with seven as a team. Hatlen took the loss, dropping her record to 10-8, while Riley Fritz went the five-inning distance to improve her pitching record to 14-6.
Game Two - PLU 7, Pacific 0
In a win-or-go-home game, PLU got off to a huge start with four runs in the first inning. Califano led off with a triple to center field and Melissa Harrelson walked before Amanda Hall hit a two-run double. Hatlen, the next batter, hit her 11th home run of the season to give the Lutes a 4-0 advantage.
Those runs were all that Butters, PLU's starter, needed as she cruised through the Pacific lineup, allowing just two hits while walking none and striking out one in a complete-game effort.
PLU played add-on with three runs in the fourth inning. Haley Harshaw and Harrelson hit singles and Hall was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Hatlen followed with a two-run single to center. Katie Lowery delivered the final run with a ground out.
Hatlen led the 11-hit offense with three hits and four RBI, while both Califano and Hall had a pair of hits. Califano, the senior outfielder who was moved to second base in place of injured senior Glenelle Nitta, finished the day with five hits.
Nitta suffered a knee injury at practice late in the week and is not expected to play in the conference tournament.
- PLU -
