Box Score Game 1

Box Score Game 2

NEWBERG, Ore.  – Finally getting in a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader that had been originally scheduled back on Sunday, the 8th-ranked Willamette University Bearcats threw a pair of two-hitters to stop the George Fox University Bruins 13-2 and 4-0 Thursday afternoon here at Morse Field.

In the opener, 2008 NWC Player of the Year Nikki Franchi (3-1) struck out 11 and walked four while allowing two unearned runs in a game that was halted after six innings.  She had to match zeroes with Bruin southpaw Chelsea Bradely (3-10) for three innings before her teammates broke loose for nine runs in the top of the 4th.

Talissa Huntsman's two-run single snapped the scoreless deadlock, and Sierra Lessel, Franchi, LaShawna Holcomb and Mica Romero followed with RBI singles.  Susie Krewer capped the frame with a three-run homer.

The Bruins got their only runs in the 5th on a two-out throwing error by Franchi that allowed Audrey Dove and Katie Hughes to score.  The Bearcats sealed the win with four more in the 6th, Holcomb tripling in a run, Romero scoring on a passed ball, and Jayleen Morris ending the scoring with a two-run homer.

Lessel, Romero, and Huntsman led the Bearcats' 18-hit assault with three safeties apiece, while Franchi, Holcomb, and Krewer had two each.  Hughes and Shelby Briske had the Bruins' only hits.  Bradely struck out six in four innings and walked only one, but was touched for 13 hits and nine runs before Erin Lee worked the final two frames.

In the nightcap, it was Alex Watilo (4-0) throwing a seven-inning gem for the visitors, fanning eight while walking none.  The only hits she allowed were singles to Bradely and Briske in the 1st.

Willamette picked up a run in the 2nd on back-to-back doubles by Romero and Huntsman, then gave Watilo a little breathing room in the 5th with a two-run homer by Suzannah Von Trapp.  The Bearcats added a final run in the 7th as Von Trapp singled, stole second, and came all the way in from there on a sacrifice bunt by Cirbi Anthony.

The Bearcats picked up seven hits off Bradely (3-11), Von Trapp and Nicole Wallace getting two apiece.

George Fox (3-12, NWC 2-6) hosts Lewis & Clark College Saturday in a 12:00 noon twinbill.  Willamette (7-1, NWC 5-1) is scheduled to play a pair of games in Redding, Calif., on Sunday against Dominican University at 11:00 a.m. and Oregon Institute of Technology at 3:00 p.m.