SPOKANE, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University softball team (23-13, 13-11 NWC) earned their second series sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon, taking down the Whitworth Pirates (5-29, 5-19 NWC), 4-0 and 10-0, behind great pitching from Rachael Rhinehart and Paige Wilson, who threw her third no-hitter of the season. The Lutes outscored the Pirates in the four-game sweep, 26-2.
 
GAME ONE
 
After yesterday's dominant two-game sweep, the Lute bats woke up early on Sunday, with back-to-back doubles by Bri Sarae and Zoe Smithson to lead off the game and go up 1-0. Rhinehart scattered a pair of hits over the first three-innings, but maintained the shutout.
 
In the top of the fourth, Emelia Maza drove in Syan Yamamoto on a single to centerfield, extending the Lutes lead to 2-0. PLU looked to extend the lead on a Sarae single, but the pinch-runner, Megan Landes, was caught on her way to home plate.
 
Rhinehart was nearly untouchable for the Lutes, as she worked through the next three innings with ease. The bats added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh, thanks to a two-run single by Brookelyn Gutierrez, scoring Sarae and Smithson, to give the Lutes a 4-0 lead with three outs to play. Rhinehart's only tough inning came in the home seventh, as two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs. She senior struck out the final batter of the game, earning the complete-game shutout, her first since April 27^th, 2024 against Whitworth, exactly one year ago today.
 
While eight of the Lutes nine starters had one or more hits, Bri Sarae led the way with a 3-4 game at the plate. Meanwhile, Gutierrez made her one hit mean the most, plating two runs. With Emelia Maza and Jaycie Simpliciano totaling two hits each as well. Rhinehart was rock-solid inside the circle, earning the complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits, while striking out seven, and walking four.
 
GAME TWO
 
The Lutes ace, Paige Wilson, handled a relatively clean first inning, hitting one batter with a pitch, the Lutes got on the board in the top of the second, as Brooke Tilson drove in Ashleighn McAuley with a single up the middle. Jaycie Simpliciano made it a 2-0 game with a single to left, scoring Gutierrez.
 
PLU added on two more, similar to game one, in the fourth inning, with Zoe Smithson and McAuley hitting doubles, making it 4-0 Lutes through three. Wilson was dealing on the mound, having put just two runners on base thus far; one with a hit-by-pitch, and another via the walk.
 
The third inning saw the Lute bats explode, scoring six runs on six hits, taking a commanding 10-0 lead over Whitworth. Following a pitching change for the Pirates, Tilson, Maza, Simpliciano, and Sarae all hit consecutive singles, to take a 6-0 lead. A Smithson walk, led to a Doctor single and Gutierrez double with one-out. Addy Meyers drove in Doctor with a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Lutes the opportunity to end the game via the mercy rule.
 
Wilson pitched to contact in the final two-innings, tossing four ground outs and two fly outs, giving her the five-inning no-hitter. Wilson and the Lutes swept the Pirates in the four-game series across the state, and remain in fourth-place in the Northwest Conference standings with four-games to play.
 
The Lutes totaled 23 hits over the two games on Sunday afternoon in eastern Washington, as eight batters each had at least one hit in the series finale. Gutierrez, Tilson, and Simpliciano led the way with two each. Doctor, Gutierrez, and Simpliciano also each drove in two runners, accounting for six of the Lutes 10 runs scored in the finale. Wilson earned her tenth win of the season (10-5 record), including tossing her third no-hitter of the season; a feat that hasn't been done by a PLU pitcher against three Northwest Conference opponents since Spring of 2002, when Melissa Korb tossed six no-hitters in a 37-day span.
 
"This team is growing in its unity and belief in itself! It's so fun to see that growth this weekend!" Said Head Coach Traci Barrett.
 
"Brookelyn Gutierrez was today's RBI-machine! She came through huge in both games to help us secure run support for Rhino going into the 7th! Rachael Rhinehart pitched a great game today and powered through a tough zone! Great team win and win for her!
Paige Wilson with another no hitter! This weekend was a really hard pitcher to hit! I'm looking forward to getting better this week! Our defense is stellar and peaking at the right time. The bats are heating up just in time for final series!"
 
 
The Lutes sit four-games behind George Fox in third in the Northwest Conference standings, and just one-game ahead of Willamette in fifth. PLU will take on cross-town rival Puget Sound in a four-game series to close out the regular season. The Bruins will take on the NWC's current No.2-seed Pioneers, while the Bearcats are set to face the nationally-ranked No.4 Wildcats on the road.
 
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