Northwest Cup - Day 2 Recap
Finals – Day 2
Game 5 – Oregon Tech def. British Columbia, 4-3
Game 6 – George Fox def. College of Idaho, 5-4
Game 7 – Concordia def. George Fox, 15-2
Game 8 – Corban def. British Columbia, 5-1
Game 9 – Oregon Tech def. Willamette, 15-8
Game 10 – College of Idaho def. Pacific, 10-8
Game 11 – Whitworth def. NW Christian, 6-5
Game 12 – Concordia def. Pacific, 8-1
Game 13 – Corban def. Whitworth, 12-4
Game 14 – Willamette def. NW Christian, 7-0
CLACKAMAS, Ore.—On a cold, overcast day to everyone else, the weather could have only seemed perfectly sunny to the Concordia softball team.
The Cavaliers earned that sunny disposition after posting dominant victories over George Fox and Pacific on the second day of the Northwest Cup, Saturday. Concordia opened the day with a 15-2 win over George Fox before wrapping it up with an 8-1 victory over Pacific.
Concordia will conclude the tournament with back-to-back games against Whitworth and Lewis & Clark on Sunday, Feb. 19. Concordia will open the day against Whitworth at 9 a.m., then play Lewis & Clark at 11 a.m.
CONCORDIA 15, GEORGE FOX 2
In easily its best offensive performance of the young season, Concordia jumped on the George Fox Bruins early with 12 runs over the first two innings.
In the first, the first five Cavalier batters reached safely with Laura Luther and Kyndell Andrews combining to bring in three runs behind a pair of doubles.
Then in the second, an early error extended the inning for the Cavs, who scored six of their seven runs in the inning with two outs after it should have been over.
Now with the lead comfortably at 12-0, Concordia substituted liberally on its way to a 15-2 win.
At pitcher, Lacey Romo came on in relief to earn the win for the Cavs, while George Fox's Allyssa DenDekker picked up the loss.
CONCORDIA 8, PACIFIC 1
In contrast to their first game, the Cavaliers had to wait for their offense against Pacific, only leading 1-0 through three and a half innings.
However, Concordia scored seven runs over the next three innings to open up the game late.
The Cavs' Kyndell Andrews helped spur the late offense with a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth.
Then in the fifth, Concordia got lucky with back-to-back Pacific errors to open the inning. After Pacific retired the next two batters, Concordia got three straight hits from Allison Gunter, Laura Luther and Tobey Varney to plate three more runs.
Now comfortably up again at 7-1, Kate Santos capped the Cavs' scoring with one final run in the bottom of the sixth. Gunter brought Santos home with a ground out after Santos led off the inning with an infield single.
Meanwhile, Concordia starter Ashley Suter pitched seven solid innings for the Cavs, totaling seven strikeouts, while only allowing one run. Suter earned the win for her efforts, while Pacific starter Jenny Yano picked up the loss.
In other action Saturday:
FIELD 2:
GEORGE FOX 5, COLLEGE OF IDAHO 4
Beginning the day on the Northwest Cup's second field, George Fox came back from an early deficit to beat The College of Idaho 5-4 on Saturday. The GFU Bruins completed the comeback with four runs in the sixth inning, thanks to a steady dose of walks from the C of I pitchers. The Yotes walked four batters in the inning, allowing the Bruins to score their four runs behind only two hits. Control plagued the Yotes in other innings as well, though, as the Yotes walked 11 Bruin batters in the game. Earlier, the Yotes took an early lead with two runs with two outs in the second after a Bruins error extended the inning. The Yotes then extended the lead to 3-0 with a solo home run in the third from Alexis Macias. The Bruins, meanwhile, opened their scoring in the top of the fifth behind four more walks. In the end, George Fox's Rachel Fielder earned the win, while C of I's Alexis Macias received the loss.
CORBAN 5, BRITISH COLUMBIA 1
Corban started fast in their first game at the Northwest Cup, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 5-1 win over the University of British Columbia. Power hitting helped fuel the early burst for the Warriors, as Stephanie Nippert opened the scoring with a two-run home run to left center. Then, two batters later, Corban's Emma Winckler plated teammate Courtney Castronovo with a double to center. British Columbia would score next with a run in the top of the fourth, but Nippert and the Warriors answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Nippert sparked the scoring with a triple to right that scored teammate Liane Dehart. Nippert then came home for the second run off an RBI ground out from Castronovo. At pitcher, Corban's Amy Greenough earned the win, while British Columbia's Alana Westerhof received the loss. In addition, Corban's Jessica Slate picked up a save after pitching three innings of scoreless relief.
COLLEGE OF IDAHO 10, PACIFIC 8
The College of Idaho held off a late rally from Pacific to claim a 10-8 victory in their second game of the day at the Northwest Cup on Saturday. The Yotes ran out to the early lead behind three-run innings in the top of both the first and third. Errors extended both innings for the Yotes, as all six of the team's runs came unearned. However, Pacific nearly wiped away the Yotes' early lead with a five run bottom of the fifth. The Pacific Loggers scored all five of the runs with two outs after the Yotes retired two of the first three Pacific batters. The Loggers threatened to score more in the inning as well, but C of I catcher Katelin Howell caught Pacific's Lauren Tuey trying to steal third and the Yotes escaped still up 7-6. The C of I offense, then, came right back in the top of the sixth to score three more runs to pad their lead to 10-6. After that, Pacific scored two more in the bottom of the seventh, but C of I closed out the victory without the tying run reaching base. In the circle, C of I starter Alexis Macias took home the victory, while Pacific starter Chloe Hanson received the loss. In addition, Janelle Wiebold picked up a save.
CORBAN 12, WHITWORTH 4
In their second game of the day, the Warriors flexed their offensive muscles, topping Whitworth 12-4. Corban's offense proved so dominant that the Warriors scored in every inning except the fourth. Still, Whitworth only trailed 4-2 through four before the Warriors' broke through with eight runs over the final three innings. The long ball helped ignite the late burst as the Warriors hit three home runs over the fifth and sixth innings. Emma Winckler started the onslaught with a two-run blast in the fifth before Chynna Sandhop and Stephanie Nippert plated three more runs with back-to-back home runs in the sixth. The Warriors led 9-3 after that and easily closed out the victory from there. Several Warrior offensive players recorded solid performances led by Brittany Chestnut and Nippert, who both went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Besides them, though, Winckler finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Abbie Pynch went 2-fo-2 with two runs scored. Meanwhile, at pitcher, Chelsea Schriber earned the win, while Riley Fritz picked up the loss.
FIELD 1:
OREGON TECH 4, BRITISH COLUMBIA 3
In their first game at the Northwest Cup, Oregon Tech won a tight 4-3 decision over British Columbia. Both teams traded a run in the first inning before two runs in the bottom of the second gave the Owls an early 3-1 lead. The Owls' Jess Plummer brought home the two runs in the second with a single after the teams' first three batters loaded the bases with no outs. An early double in the top of fifth led to another British Columbia run, but the Owls' Janelle Cromie responded soon after with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. While British Columbia would again make the game interesting with a solo home run to lead off the top of the seventh, the Owls retired three of the next four British Columbia batters to close out the win. In the circle, OIT's Taylor Schmidt picked up the win, while British Columbia's Leigh Della Siega received the loss.
OREGON TECH 15, WILLAMETTE 8
With both teams providing late fireworks, Oregon Tech won its second game of the day with a 15-8 decision over Willamette. OIT led 6-0 through four and a half innings before Willamette's Heather Winslow cut the Owls' lead in half with a three-run home run to left center in the bottom of the fifth. Then, after OIT tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth, Willamette added four more runs behind RBIs from Allison Martin, Thomas Martin and Hope Kloczko. Now only up 8-7, OIT responded emphatically with a seven run top of the seventh to comfortably go up 15-7. The Owls first seven batters reached base with Ashleigh Larson capping the offensive outburst with a grand slam to right. Willamette couldn't muster much of a threat after that and the Owls sealed the victory in the bottom of the frame. At pitcher, OIT's Morgan Barnes earned the victory, while Willamette's Alex Watilo received the loss. In addition, OIT's Taylor Schmidt picked up the save.
FIELD 3:
WHITWORTH 6, NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN 5
In a back-and-forth game, Whitworth came through with three runs in the top of the seventh to nip Northwest Christian 6-5. Whitworth recorded the late comeback after its first three batters reached safely in the crucial seventh inning. The Pirates' comeback also erased Northwest Christian's own late inning charge after the Beacons scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to go up 5-3. Northwest Christian got both its runs in the fifth after the Pirates recorded two outs in the inning. NCU's Gabby Stover started the rally in the fifth with a solo home run, while Amanda Reiss singled home Joella Smith soon after. Then in the sixth, Stover came through again with a single to the outfield that scored two more Beacon runners. In the end, though, Whitworth's Taylor Gilbert picked up the win in relief, while NCU starter Kalyssa Koontz got the loss.
WILLAMETTE 7, NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN 0
Willamette did all its damage early as the Bearcats scored all seven of their runs in the first three innings. Back-to-back two-out doubles from Willamette's Courtney Galli and Hope Kloczko opened the scoring for the Bearcats in the first before a four RBI single from Mica Romero in the second gave the Bearcats a commanding 6-0 lead through two innings. NCU errors would then help the Bearcats add another run in the third to close out the scoring at 7-0. Meanwhile, the Bearcats' Alex Watilo and Hayley Glantz teamed up to retire 18 of the final 20 NCU batters in the game. Watilo, the Bearcats' starter, earned the win for her efforts, while Glantz picked up a save. In the meantime, NCU starter Jenna Royce pitched a complete game, but got the loss.