Box Score Game 1

Box Score Game 2

TACOMA, Wash. – Getting shutout pitching from starting hurlers Stacey Hagensen and Cathy Kirkevold in both games, the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes swept the visiting George Fox University Bruins 7-0 and 8-0,the second game in five innings, in a pair of Northwest Conference softball games played on a brutally cold and windy Saturday afternoon here at the PLU Field.

Hagensen (2-3) went the seven-inning distance in the opener, allowing six hits and three walks while striking out five.  She got all the run support she would need when the Lutes pushed across five runs in the 4th, all of them unearned.

PLU managed just two hits in the inning - singles by Hagensen and Amber Roberts - but used two Bruin errors, one fielding and one throw, and four stolen bases to manufacture their offense.  The Lutes added a pair of two-out runs in the 6th Missy Waldron and Caitlin Brown driving in the runs with base hits.  Waldron, Brown, and Jordan Liebe all had a pair of hits for PLU.

Chelsea Bradely (1-5) took the loss for the Bruins, scattering nine hits while striking out seven and walking none.  Only two of the runs she allowed were earned.

Kirkevold (1-1) and batterymate Vanessa Bryant were the stars of the five-inning second game as Kirkevold allowed just one hit, striking out four with one walk, and Bryant hit a pair of homers and drove in five runs.  Bradely (1-6) went the distance for the Bruins in the nightcap as well, allowing 10 hits while striking out six with no walks.

Bryant got the Lutes on the board with a long solo homer to left field in the 2nd, and added a run-scoring double in the 4th. Brown led off with a double to center field and scored when Bryant hit a line drive off the base of the fence down the left field line. Melissa Natwick, pinch-running for Bryant, scored on Kirkevold's ground out to make it 3-0.

The Bruins got their lone hit in the 5th, a solid single by Kerstyn Tsuruda, to spoil Kirkevold's no-hit bid. The Lutes then scored five in the bottom of the inning, all with two outs, to end the game by the eight-run rule.  Roberts, Waldron, and Brown hit consecutive singles, and with Roberts and Waldron stealing bases, that accounted for a pair of runs. Liebe added another hit to bring Bryant to the plate, and she ended the game with a line drive homer over the left field fence.

PLU finished the game with 10 hits, including three by Bryant and two each by Waldron and Brown. The Lutes had 19 hits in all in the twinbill.

George Fox (1-6, NWC 0-2) visits the University of Puget Sound while Pacific Lutheran (3-7, NWC 2-2) hosts Lewis & Clark College Sunday, both doubleheaders starting at 12:00 noon.