|
|
 |
|
March 4, 2007 Lutes Sweep Lewis & Clark, Improve to 4-0 in Conference
Beth Kenck hit an opposite-field double to drive in the winning run in the second game as the Pacific Lutheran Lutes earned a 3-2 victory and a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader sweep of the Lewis & Clark Pioneers on Sunday afternoon. The Lutes won the opener, 10-2, with the game ending via the eight-run rule in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the wins, the Lutes improve to 6-0 for the season and to 4-0 in the conference. Lewis & Clark is now 1-10 for the season and 0-4 in Northwest Conference action. After collecting 12 hits and winning handily in the opener, PLU struggled against L&C left-hander Megan Aucutt in the second contest. The Lutes took a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Alana Schutt and a run-scoring double by Shelby Johnston, but after that Aucutt limited the Lutes to just two hits over the next four innings. In the meantime, the Pioneers rallied to tie the game with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. They tallied in the fourth when Janet Freerks led off with a double and scored when a pop up by Jessica Mullins dropped untouched behind second base for a base hit. An inning later, Aucutt helped her own cause with a single up the middle that scored Christy Hatton, who reached on a base hit. Aucutt had a pair of hits to lead Lewis & Clark’s six-hit attack. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Johnston lined a two-out double to right-center field, and she scored when Kenck’s fly ball sailed over the head of Mullins, who was playing shallow in right field. Cassie Canales retired Lewis & Clark in order in the seventh inning to earn her third win of the year against no defeats. Canales allowed two earned runs – the first two she has allowed in 21 innings this season – on six hits while striking out six and walking two. In the opener, Hadley Schmitt threw her third straight complete game victory for PLU, giving up two runs, one of which was earned, on three hits. She struck out six and, for the first time in 21 innings, walked a batter. Lewis & Clark led 2-1 when the Lutes exploded for seven runs against relief pitcher Roxanne Rittmaster in the fourth and fifth innings. Kenck’s RBI single tied the game in the fourth, and six Lutes crossed the plate in the fifth inning by virtue of four hits and three Pioneers errors. Schutt and Vanessa Bryant both drove in a run with a base hit and Kenck added a two-run single in the frame. The Lutes benefited from six Lewis & Clark errors as only five of their 10 runs were earned. Bryant and Kenck both had three hits for PLU, and Schmitt had her three straight two-hit game. Schutt added a pair of run-scoring singles to the winning cause. Mullins hit her second home run of the year, a solo shot over the right field fence in the second inning, for the Pioneers. - PLU - |
