Monmouth, Ore. | The Warner Pacific University Softball team (0-2) kicked off the 2022 Regular Season on the road facing NCAA DII Western Oregon University (7-2), where they dropped the doubleheader series to the Wolves, 3-9 and 1-9.
Game 1
With a new leader at the helm, Warner Pacific Softball took the field for the first time in the 2022 season, as Head Coach Alex Flores eyed her first doubleheader as an opportunity for her squad to learn and develop before the harshness of an extremely difficult Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) schedule comes into play at the end of February.
Western Oregon, who had previously hosted fellow CCC member Bushnell University to start their season, struck first with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning of game one. Despite allowing an opening inning run, Knights’ starting pitcher Abby Carlson (0-1) would settle in and find her rhythm against the Wolves, allowing just one run over the next four innings.
The top of the 3
rd inning was when WPU found the offense it needed to corner the Wolves into a nerve-racking situation, as Warner Pacific scored three runs to flip the switch on WOU. Knights’ junior third baseman Savannah Roddey and freshman catcher Olivia Hutchins executed a perfectly designed double-steal, allowing Hutchins to score on the throw attempting to nab Roddey.
Two batters later, junior shortstop Carrigan Foster knocked in Roddey with a shallow single into left field, allowing Warner Pacific to take the lead, 2-1. Without missing a beat, junior first baseman Emma Foster drilled a 3-1 count into deep right field, scoring Carrigan and extending the lead to 3-1 on a head-first sliding triple.
The Wolves would steal one back in the bottom of the 5
th inning, but Carlson had been masterful so far against the NCAA school up until this point. Allowing just two runs on four hits over the first five innings is quite the accomplishment for the sophomore out of Portland, but unfortunately five innings would prove to be the maximum for the Knights’ starting pitcher.
Into the bottom of the 6
th inning the Knights and Wolves went, and Western Oregon had finally figured out Carlson’s bag of tricks, batting around the lineup to take an overwhelming 9-3 lead over Warner Pacific.
The Wolves’ offensive spurt proved to be too much at such a late point in the contest, as a three-batter top of the 7
th inning would close out the Knights’ opening game in Monmouth, with the Wolves taking it 9-3.
Carrigan Foster finished the 2022 inaugural game with two hits in three at-bats, scoring a run and securing an RBI along the way. Carlson allowed nine runs over 5.2 innings pitched, allowing 10 hits and fanning three batters in 94 pitches.
Western Oregon second baseman Logan Carlos and catcher Natalie Willoughby each netted a pair of hits in three play appearances, while Willoughby accounted for two of her team’s nine RBIs. Wolves’ starting pitcher Reilly Tidwell (1-1) struck out six Knights over 6.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits.
Game 2
The second game between the Knights and Wolves started in similar fashion, with Western Oregon taking first blood on a 2 RBI double in the first inning off of Warner Pacific sophomore starting pitcher Sammie Brauckmiller. However, with Sammie’s teammate and sister, Maggie Brauckmiller, behind the plate, the pitching/catching duo would find their connection quickly after a few first inning mistakes.
After WOU took their second 1
st inning lead of the afternoon, Emma Foster teed off with one out in the top of the 2
nd inning, smashing a 1-1 count fastball ten feet over the left field wall, cutting the Knights deficit to just one run with plenty of game left to be played.
The Brauckmiller sisters took over for WPU over the next three innings, allowing just three Western Oregon base runners between the 2
nd and 4
th innings on two hits and a walk.
Unfortunately for the Knights, the inspiring defensive prowess they demonstrated over these innings were complimented with a no-show from the offense, collecting just one baserunner on one hit over the same contest time period.
Another late-inning offensive onslaught doomed Warner Pacific in game two, with the Wolves scoring seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the 5
th inning, thus forcing the run-rule to kick in and ending the contest after five innings, with Western Oregon on top 9-1.
Emma Foster’s second inning solo-shot would prove to be the only scoring of game two for Warner Pacific, with senior centerfielder Paityn Willoughby picking up her first hit of the season in the top of the 5
th inning. Sammie Brauckmiller finished the afternoon allowing six runs in 4.0 innings pitched, striking out three WOU batters in the process.
Wolves’ Carlos picked up another two hits in Western Oregon’s sweep of the Knights, along with third baseman Kate Ronning and centerfielder Kirah McGlothan. Starting pitcher Chelsea Smith (3-0) nabbed her third win of the season in a complete 5.0 innings of work, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Despite the ugly single innings each game of defense, the Knights played an all-around great first day of preseason games under the lead of Coach Flores, who shared at the end of the day, “Just give us some patience and our preseason matchups, this team will definitely surprise some folks this year.”
Warner Pacific Softball returns to the field tomorrow morning at NCAA DIII Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore. for their second doubleheader of the preseason slate. First pitch of game one is slated for 12pm PDT, with game two following shortly after the conclusion of game one, with a tentative start time of 2pm PDT.