Freshman Cassie Bishop had five hits against Patten, upping her team-leading batting average to .368.
Weather Related Mishaps Cost Beacons a Sweep
EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian College came away from a rain soaked double header with Patten University with a split on Monday, after seeing a four-run lead collapse in the last inning of game two. The events that unfolded during the top-of the seventh spoiled what had been a strong afternoon for the Beacons, who won game-one via mercy rule and scored the most combined runs of any double-header this season.
The Beacons held a 5-1 lead heading into the seventh inning. Patten opened up the inning by tagging starting pitcher Jayde Curry for three straight hits as they climbed within three. With two on and nobody out and the second rain delay of the game looming, the Lion’s Jasmine Battle threw down a sacrifice bunt in an attempt to move the runners. The throw came to Jonni Byrne at first base where she appeared to have laid a solid tag on the runner. After the tag, Battle barreled of Byrne, who was standing on the line to receive the throw. As Byrne fell to the ground, the ball popped out of her glove and the home plate umpire called the batter safe. As this happened, a runner cruised in from third to make it a 5-3 game.
The sky opened again with an onslaught of hail, sending the teams off the field for the second time. When action resumed, Darci Byrne was pitching in relief and Jen West had replaced Byrne at second base. With rain continuing and conditions less than optimal, Byrne got her first foe to strike out. The next batter was walked to load the bases and that was followed by a two-RBI single for the Patten cleanup hitter, tying the game at 5-5. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly that gave the Lions their first lead of the afternoon and then a pair of wild pitches that slipped from Byrne’s hand allowed another run to score for the 7-5 lead.
Things were much sunnier for the Beacons in the first game, although the skies were not. NCC picked up their first mercy-rule victory of the season with an 8-0 win that also gave senior pitcher Megan McLearn (1-12) her first victory of the season.
Cassie Bishop and Lissa Hatefi each had three hits for the Beacons and Brittany Robles had three RBI. Corrie Gustafson was 1-for-3 and had two RBI when she crushed her first career home run down the line and over the left-field fence.
Bishop finished batting 5-for-8 on the day with two doubles and three runs, upping her batting average by over 20 points to a team-leading .368. Robles added three hits in game two and finished with five runs batted in on the afternoon. Darci Byrne (7-11) was the hard luck loser of game two, allowing two unearned runs in one inning of work, while striking out a pair of batters.
The Beacons (9-24) will be back in action on Friday when they play host to Eastern Oregon University. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.