4/13/2008 - PACIFIC 14-8, GEORGE FOX 1-0: Boxers Hand Bruins Pair of Five-Inning Losses
Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Setting up a showdown next weekend that will go a long way toward determining the Northwest Conference softball champion, the Pacific University Boxers concluded their four-game sweep of the George Fox University Bruins with 14-1 and 8-0 wins in two games settled after five innings Sunday afternoon here at Sherman/Larkins Stadium.
Pacific opened the first game with a a single run in the 1st on a single by Brooke Fogwell and one in the 2nd on a single by Jessie Garcia. The Bruins cut the lead in half in the top of the 3rd as Natalie White doubled to left-center and scored on Camille Jeffris’ single to center.
The floodgates opened for the Boxers in the 3rd, however, as they tallied 11 runs on 10 hits, with 15 batters coming to the plate. The Boxers scored runs on singles by Brooke Toy, Kim Whittaker, and Caitlin Mastenbroek, and doubles by Garcia, Toy, and Carrie Maerz. Pacific added one more in the 4th when Kristen Croxford singled up the middle to score Garcia.
Andrea Bansen (12-2) earned the win in the opener by allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts. White (2-16) was roughed up for 13 runs, 12 earned, and 12 hits in 2.2 innings, with one strikeout and three walks.
The teams engaged in the closest tilt of the series in the second game, but the Boxers came up with a pair of four-run frames to complete the sweep. A George Fox miscue opened the game in the 1st as a bad throw on a sacrifice bunt allowed Croxford to score from first, Kelly Nishitomi scored on a fielder’s choice, Mastenbroek scored on Maerz's single, and Maerz scored on a wild pitch to make 4-0.
The Boxers took advantage of two more George Fox errors to score four runs in the 3rd. Amy Walters singled to score Fogwell, but a bad throw on the play allowed Maerz to score from second. Heather Ritenour drove in the other two runs when her single down the left field line scored Walters and Whittaker.
Miranda McNealy (15-1) allowed just two hits - singles by White and Serena Lee in the 4th - and two walks with six strikeouts. Torey Weatherman (1-11) took the loss for the Bruins, allowing eight runs, four earned, on nine hits and one walk in four innings of work.
Pacific is now 27-3 overall and second in the conference at 16-2, while first-place and 4th-ranked Linfield College is 30-2 and 19-1. The two front-runners will meet Saturday and Sunday in a pair of doubleheaders at 12:00 noon in McMinnville. George Fox, 3-27-1 overall and 3-21 in the conference, visits Pacific Lutheran University Saturday for a pair at 12:00 noon.