by Jared Beilby

GEORGETOWN, Texas – Kayla Anderson hit a pair of home runs in the opener and then was walked four times in the nightcap as the George Fox University Bruins swept the host Southwestern University (Texas) Pirates 13-4 in the first game and 7-2 in the second in a non-conference softball doubleheader Saturday here at Taylor-Sanders Field.

George Fox opens the season 2-0 for the third consecutive year as they hope to improve upon their 2013 mark of 18-22. Southwestern (1-5) finished last season 34-13 and lost in the regional round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.  

Game 1 – George Fox 13, at Southwestern 4

Sophomores Anderson and Kat Hylton started things for the Bruins with a pair of opening-inning homers. Southwestern responded by scoring three runs in the second before freshmen Baylee Westrick and Megan Furtado both hit two-run long balls two innings later as the Bruins used a five-run fourth to go up 7-3.

The Bruins never looked backed as Anderson smashed her second home run in the sixth and then added a sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh. She finished 2-3 with five RBIs plus the two homers.  Furtado, Hylton and Westrick all had two hits and a homer.

As a team, the Bruins out-hit the Pirates 14-10 and left only four on base. Michele Ramos went 3-3 to lead the Pirates.

George Fox senior Erin Hento (1-0) pitched six innings in the circle to earn the win, allowing four earned runs on nine hits while striking out six. Sophomore Amanda Woods finished the game for the Bruins in the seventh. Nicole Gibbs (1-4) was the losing pitcher for Southwestern in 3.1 innings of work.

Game 2 – George Fox 7, at Southwestern 2

The Bruins opened the second game by scoring in each of the first three innings as sophomore Courtney Howard singled in a run in the first, senior Felicia Chavez hit an RBI double in the second, and Woods blasted a three-run homer in the third. The Pirates managed to put up two runs in the third but the Bruins answered with two of their own in the fifth.

Woods finished 2-4 with three RBIs while Howard went 2-4 with an RBI. The Bruins were able to win despite getting outhit 8-7. They did, however, outhit the Pirates 3-2 on extra base hits.  

Alyssa DenDekker (1-0) earned the complete-game win for George Fox while allowing eight hits with a pair of earned runs.

NEXT: George Fox stays in Texas to face the University of Dallas in a doubleheader Sunday at 1 p.m. CST (11 a.m. PST)…  Southwestern will host Concordia (Texas) in a Wednesday doubleheader at 1 p.m. CST (11 a.m. PST).