TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University softball team (25-13, 15-11 NWC) clinched a postseason berth on Saturday afternoon, defeating cross-town rival Puget Sound (9-27, 4-22 NWC) in both games, 6-1 and 7-4.
 
GAME ONE
 
Sophomore Paige Wilson started the series inside the circle for the Lutes in game one on Saturday, meanwhile the offense gave her immediate run support in the top of the first. As Zoe Smithson hit a one-out single, later scoring on a throwing error following a single from Kamalani Doctor. Mya Grado drove in Doctor with a two-out single, putting the Lutes up 2-0 early.
 
The Lutes added on just an inning later, with Emilia Maza and Bri Sarae each hitting singles. Smithson's sacrifice fly brought in the second run of the inning and fourth of the game, putting PLU out to an immediate 4-0 lead.
 
Wilson scattered a pair of hits through the first three frames, while Sarae's double in the fourth scored pinch-runner Morgan Calcagno; 5-0 PLU. The Loggers ended their scoring drought in the same inning, as a double and two singles put them on the board with one run. Smithson ripped a solo home run in the top of the seventh, making it a 6-1 Lutes advantage. Leaving Wilson with a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game, extending their win streak to five games.
 
Wilson threw all seven innings, allowing six hits and just one run, while fanning 12 batters; her second-highest strikeout total of the season, second only to her 13 against Pacific on April 18^th. PLU totaled eight hits as a team, with two each coming off the bats of Sarae, Smithson, and Doctor, at the top of the lineup. Both Sarae and Smithson drove in four-combined runs. Of the Lutes 29 at-bats, they never struck out at the plate.
 
GAME TWO
 
Matching their hot start from the first game, Sarae opened game two with a triple, later scoring on a passed ball. Brookelyn Gutierrez brought another run home with a one-out fielder's choice; the Lutes led 2-0 to start the game. Junior Rachel Treves made the start in game two, stranding a two-out double in the first frame.
 
A pair of walks to begin the third was followed by a Gutierrez single to add another run to the Lutes total. Grado singled and Tilson doubled, bringing home Doctor and Calcagno with one-out in the third. Grado scored on a Maza sacrifice fly, propelling the Lutes to a dominant 6-0 lead thanks to early run support for Treves.
 
Treves ran into her first sign of real trouble in the home fourth, as the Loggers brought one home on a sacrifice fly, making it 6-1. But PLU matched that run in the following inning, as Tilson's sacrifice pop-up brought home Gutierrez to make it 7-1.
 
Puget Sound tallied three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to three-straight base knocks. Treves start was ended following her five-innings of work, as freshman Maiya Anderson came in relief to open the sixth. Anderson struck out four over the final two-innings, and failed to allow a hit to the Loggers, slamming the door shut on any comeback hopes and giving the Lutes a Saturday sweep. The two wins paired with two Willamette losses at Linfield meant the Lutes now hold a three-game advantage over the Bearcats in the conference standings with just two to play; PLU returns to the Northwest Conference championship as the No.4-seed.
 
Treves earned the win in the start, while Anderson recorded the save. The Lutes starter allowed four runs on nine hits, while striking out a pair. Tilson led the Lutes with three runs batted in in her 1-4 game at the plate, while Gutierrez was close behind with two. The Lutes struck out a total of five times over their 56-total at-bats in Saturday's double header.
 
"We loved having another dominant day inside the circle by the pitching staff, our defense did a great job by supporting them. Scoring runs at the beginning of both games put us in a great position to carry that momentum throughout the rest of each game." Said Head Coach Traci Barrett.
 
"It was cool to see a lot of different players step up today and have hits, healping us score more runs thanks to our adjustments we made at the plate. Days when coaches make mistakes are always the hardest, and today for Brookelyn to have a three-run home run that would have put us up 10-4 was impressive. An honest mistake by myself with an illegal runner took that away on the scorebook, but it did not take it away from happening! Brookelyn has been a stud for us all season, and today she was as well."
 
"We are so proud of the senior group and the way they handle themselves, they get things done on the field, and treat their team the right way; it makes the coaching staff very proud. We are looking forward to competing again with this group tomorrow and honoring our four seniors!"
 
Regardless of the results of tomorrow's final two regular-season games, the Lutes are locked into the No.4-seed for the 2025 Northwest Conference tournament, and they are set to face No.1-seeded Linfield to open the tournament next weekend in McMinnville, Ore.
 
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