SALEM, Ore. –  Amanda Fernandes hit a three-run walk-off home run to give Willamette University an 8-5 first-game win before the Bearcats breezed past the visiting George Fox University Bruins 12-3 in the second game, sweeping the Northwest Conference-opening softball doubleheader for both teams Saturday afternoon here at the WU softball field.

George Fox, which opened the season with three straight wins, slid to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the league.  Willamette, which began the year with four straight losses, improved to 2-4 overall and 2-0 in the NWC

Game 1 – Willamette 8, George Fox 5

In the opener, Fernandes' three-run shot to center with two out in the bottom of the seventh capped a five-run inning as the Bearcats rallied from a 5-3 deficit to stun the Bruins.

Willamette took an early 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the last of the first.  Allison Martin led off and reached second on a throwing error, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored as Ashley Pender, who had walked, was caught trying to steal.

The Bruins tied it in the second as Rachel Fielder slugged a lead-off home run to center, her first, and went ahead in the third on singles by Kayla Anderson, Amanda Woods, and Kerrianne Davidson.  Willamette knotted it in the home half as Pender doubled to center with two out and scored on Kelli Snyder's single.

Jenna Kirk gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead with her first home run of the season in the fourth, but again the Bearcats tied it in the fifth as Martin singled to lead off, was sacrificed to second, and scored on Snyder's double to left-center.     

George Fox broke the tie in the sixth when Kirk walked, went to third on Kat Hylton's double down the left-field line, and scored on a single to left by Felicia Chavez.  They added an insurance run in the seventh as Woods singled, Genetta Duncan walked, and Davidson doubled to left-center to score Woods.

The Bearcats began their comeback when Martin tripled with one out in the last of the seventh and Pender singled to left to drive her in.  Snyder popped up for the second out, but Courtney Galli singled to keep the inning alive, and Erin Norris singled up the middle to drive in Pender with the tying run, setting up Fernandes' game-winning blast off Bruin reliever Erin Hento (2-2). 

Alyssa DenDekker went the first five innings for George Fox, scattering eight hits while allowed three runs, two earned.  She fanned three and walked one before Hento came in and worked a 1-2-3 sixth, but could not keep the 'Cats off the board in the seventh.

Victoria Bradshaw (1-1) started for the Bearcats, was relieved by Erin Bueser in sixth, then came back in midway through the top of the seventh and got the win when Willamette rallied.  She threw six innings in all, spacing eight hits while allowing three earned run with four walks and four strikeouts. 

Game 2 – Willamette 12, George Fox 3

After coming so close to a win in the opener, the Bruins committed four errors in the first inning of the nightcap and surrendered five unearned runs in the frame as the Bearcats cruised to victory.

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the nightcap on a bases-loaded walk to Davidson that forced in Felicia Chavez, but the Bearcats took advantage of the Bruins' defensive lapses in the bottom of the frame score five times and take control.  A two-out error at second allowed Pender and Snyder to score the first two runs, Fernandez singled in Norris, Yvonne Drabin reached on a throwing error at third, and starting pitcher Fielder threw away a grounder by McKenzie Wasley as Fernandes and Drabin scored.

The Bearcats added four more in the third on RBI singles by Drabin and Martin, followed by a two-run double bu Pender.  A three-run Willamette fourth featured RBI singles by Fernandes, Bueser, and Martin.

The Bruins picked up two runs in the fifth as Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Nicole Renteria and Duncan singled to right to score Anderson, but it was much too little, much too late.

Hayley Glantz (1-2) went the distance for the Bearcats on the mound, allowing five hits with four strikeouts and four walks.  Fielder (0-1) took the loss for the Bruins, allowing six hits and nine runs, only four of which were earned. 

Martin, Pender, and Fernandez each had two hits and drove in two runs for the Bearcats, who had 12 hits in all.  Anderson was the only Bruin with two hits, going 2-for-2.

NEXT: The Bruins and Bearcats will conclude their series with a doubleheader on Sunday at 12:00 noon in Salem.