TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University softball team defeated No.12 nationally-ranked Linfield University, 6-5, in a tight ballgame to begin the four-game Northwest Conference series against the league leaders. The Wildcats rallied for an 11-5 victory in the second game of the day.
Game 1
With the Lutes clinging to a 6-5 lead and the bases loaded and nobody out, sophomore pitcher
Emma Ware slammed the door on the Wildcats, escaping unscathed and earning her third save of the season.
Ware entered the game with two on, but allowed a swinging bunt single to her first batter. The next Wildcat hit a shallow pop up to left field, and another Wildcats was cut down trying to score on a wild pitch. Ware then coaxed a foul out to
Sarah Potwin at first to preserve the victory.
Trailing 1-0 in the second, Potwin blasted a home run to left field and the Lutes took advantage of a Linfield error to add a third run in the inning. Linfield tied the game in the third, but
Mari Foster led off the bottom half with a solo shot to put the Lutes back on top.
The Wildcats tied the game again in the fourth, but the Lutes went back ahead when
Molly House singled in
Erin McGrath. Linfield tied the score again in fifth, but
Erin McGrath came through with the game-winning double in the sixth.
McGrath,
Brooke Tilson and
Kamryn Adkins all had a pair of hits to lead the Lute offense that produced 10 in the opener. PLU gave Linfield pitcher Tayah Kelly (15-3) just her third loss of the season after the Lutes scored five earned runs off of her. Kelly game into the game with just a 1.21 ERA.
Cassidy Conrad (5-1) picked up the win for the Lutes after throwing six innings and striking out five.
Game 2
Linfield scored four unearned runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 advantage before winning 11-5. The Wildcats pounced on starter
Emma Ware for two runs in the first, but the Lutes answered in the bottom half with a RBI double by
Casey Wright and sacrifice fly by
Molly House.
Six unanswered runs by Linfield ended in the bottom of the fourth when
Kayla Terlecki, who was pinch running for Wright, scored on a Linfield miscue. Wright added a RBI single in the fifth and
Erin McGrath drilled her ninth homer of the season in the seventh.
After earning the save in Game 1, Ware took the loss in Game 2 after allowing three runs on six hits in three innings pitched.
Marley Dyer pitched the fourth and allowed just one earned run after a pair of errors by the Lute defense and
Amaya Smith pitched two scoreless frames, before allowing three tallies in the final inning.
McGrath had three hits to lead the lineup and the right fielder and
Mari Foster each scored a pair of runs. Foster and Wright both had two hits each, with Wright also walking twice.
The Lutes will look to win the series tomorrow when they meet the Wildcats for another doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m.
