Ashlee Cole hit her 11th and 12th HRs of the season to set a new NCU school record on Friday as the Beacons split a double header with Northwest, winning 2-1 before losing 5-4 in eight innings.
Taylor Medley went 3-for-6 on the day for NCU. Sophomore Ashlee Cole continued her assault on the record books, hitting 5-for-6 on the day with a pair of home runs and four RBI. Her 11
th and 12
th bombs of the season give her a new NCU single-season record as she passes the mark set by Cassie Bishop in 2010.
It was Cole that provided all of the offense to give the Beacons the win in game-one. Her solo shot in the fourth inning gave NCU the lead and her RBI single in the fifth provided what would amount to the winning run in the 2-1 victory.
Katie Walker (2-8) got the victory for NCU, going the distance and striking out five batters. She scattered ten hits but allowed just one run to score.
Game two was a back-and-forth battle that saw NCU rally from being down 2-0 after the first inning. Cole hit her second home of the day in the fourth inning to make it 2-1 only to see the Eagles answer with a run of their own in the top of the fifth.
The Beacons came back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on back-to-back RBI doubles from Paige Griffith and Ashlee Cole.
The game remained knotted at 3-3 as the teams moved into the eighth inning when the Beacons got into trouble. A one-out throwing error caused the go ahead run to score and the Eagles added another run on an RBI single from Darian Godfrey which proved to be the game-winning score.
NCU did their best to put together a rally in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Parker Fritter singled and Kiara Vasquez doubled, bringing Fritter in to score from first to make it 5-4. Kyndle DelCollo was hit by a pitch and both runners were moved into scoring position on a fly-out by Medley. Unfortunately the inning and the game ended on the next at bat.
Breanne Johnson started the game and pitched just one inning. Janieve Boyles (3-8) threw the final seven innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out five batters.
The Beacons (12-26, 6-12) will turn around to play host to the University of British Columbia on Saturday for a double-header beginning at 11:00 am. Northwest travels north to Salem where they will take on Corban University, also at 11 am.