SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Finally playing in their new home nearly a year after their original opening date, the Bushnell softball team completed a split with Willamette University on Saturday at Rich Schwab Park. The Beacons won the opener, 4-3 and dropped the night cap, 6-4.
Plate discipline proved to be a key factor for the Beacons in both games as came to the plate 63 times and did not record a single strikeout.
Miranda Jensen (2-2) picked up her second win of the weekend, throw all seven innings in the game-one victory. She allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out two batters.
The Bushnell offense collected six hits of their own including two from Kerry Murphy (pictured). Three of the team hits went for extra bases, including triples from both Miranda Jensen and Alyssa Ferreira, the latter of which scored the game-winning run in the sixth inning.
Willamette jumped on top early, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. The went on to make it 3-0 in the top of the fourth on an RBI walk by Kelsey Wong.
Murphy got the Beacons on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single, and the Beacons tied the game in the fifth with a pair of runs, capped by an RBI hit from Jordan Kuykendall.
Ferreira helped ice the game in the bottom of the sixth when her triple brought home Alexa Berry.
Freshman Stella Turner was in the circle for game two and threw a gem, allowing just two earned runs on five hits, striking out a career-high eight batters in seven innings of work.
This time it was the Beacons that jumped out to the lead. Anabel Mendez scored on a Sam Silver single in the second, Anna Cardwell came home on a Mendez sacrifice fly in the third and Cardwell scored again on an error in the fifth to give the home team a 3-0 advantage.
One bad inning proved to be the difference maker as the Wildcats tacked on four runs in the sixth to take the lead. The Beacons, however, came back to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom half when Suzi Krstic scored after a fielder choice by birthday-girl Lilly Bauer.
After six strong innings, Turner was lifted for the top of the seventh, but after reliever Leslie Reynaga (0-1) opened the inning with consecutive walks, Turner reentered. Willamette was able to do the final damage on back-to-back RBI hits for the 6-4 advantage.
The Beacons finished the game with 11 hits as Kuykendall batted 3-for-4. Cardwell and Berry posted two hits apiece in the loss.
Bushnell will return to action on Friday afternoon when they are scheduled to open Cascade Collegiate Conference action at home against No. 1 Southern Oregon University at 1:00 pm. Fans are reminded that there is NO ATTENDANCE allowed at any Bushnell home games this season, and due to the field location adjacent to Maple Elementary, all fans are asked to stay home.