PORTLAND, Ore. – Freshman pitcher Brooke Davis had an impressive debut for Northwest Christian Softball on Saturday, picking up a win, a save, and 16 strikeouts on the mound and hitting a home run as the Beacons swept a pair of season-opening games in the Northwest Cup, both by a 5-2 final score.
Davis made her debut in the pitching circle against Whitworth on Saturday morning and went 6 2/3 innings allowing just one earned run to pick up the victory, all the while striking out a freshman-record 14 batters.
The Beacons went ahead 2-0 in the second inning by manufacturing runs. First, a bases-loaded walk to Jenn West brought home Davis from third and then Brittany Robles scored on an RBI ground-out by Jonni Byrne.
Whitworth got a run back in the top of the fifth inning on a solo home run but Northwest Christian responded in the bottom half with three of their own as Davis and Robles hit back-to-back jacks, including a two-run shot by Davis that also scored Cotie Howard.
The offensive power continued in game two, a 5-2 win over Pacific Lutheran University. This time the Beacons struck early getting a bases loaded walk from Robles and an RBI single from Corrie Gustafson in the bottom of the first inning, staking freshman pitcher Kalyssa Koontz to an early 2-0 lead. PLU got one back in the top of the fourth with a lead-off homer but the Beacons wasted no time answering as Jonni Byrne crushed a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, giving NCU a 4-1 lead.
The bottom of the fifth brought Robles second homer of the night and a 5-1 lead. Robles would finish the day batting 4-for-5 over the two games with three RBI. Koontz finished her first career victory with four innings pitched, striking out two while allowing just two hits.
Head Coach Tim Hood said, “Both Brooke and Kalyssa pitched great for us tonight and more importantly we had just one error all day. That’s a good sign for us going forward as we start the new season.”
Robles said, “We played really well today as a team and it was great to keep down the errors. This is going to be a very exciting season.”
Northwest Christian is now 2-0 on the young season and will continue play in the Northwest Cup on Sunday with games scheduled against the University of Puget Sound and the NAIA’s #8 ranked Simon Fraser.