By Jared Beilby, Student Intern

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – After the George Fox University Bruins scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 5-0 lead in the opener, the Pacific University Boxers were able to rally and win 7-6 before taking the second game 5-1 in a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader Saturday afternoon here at Sherman/Larkins Stadium.

George Fox falls to 23-15 overall and 12-14 in the conference after dropping its final two road games of the season, while Pacific is 23-9 overall and 18-8 in the league.  Pacific is a solid second in the conference while George Fox is currently tied for fifth with Pacific Lutheran University (15-23, 12-14 NWC) and needs help in order to leap past Willamette University (16-18, 12-12 NWC) and avoid a tie with PLU for the fourth and final conference playoff spot. Both Willamette and Pacific Lutheran hold tiebreakers over George Fox.

Game 1 – at Pacific 7, George Fox 6

Neither team could round the bases through the first four innings as both starting pitchers, Erin Hento for George Fox and Maddie Collura for Pacific, allowed just three combined hits. The Bruins, however, batted around in the fifth as Kayla Anderson hit a two-run single, Amanda Woods connected for an RBI double, Baylee Westrick singled Anderson home, and Becca Olson walked with the bases loaded to bring Woods in. Ashley Bunce and Kat Hilton also hit singles for the Bruins in the inning.

Pacific responded with three runs on the inning's flipside as Quirena Natividad sent a three-run shot over the fence. In the penultimate inning, they added one more to cut the score down to 5-4. George Fox's lead doubled when Olson singled in Courtney Howard in the top of the seventh before the Boxers rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to score the win.

Woods and Westrick led the Bruins as both went 2-4, with Woods and Howard each hitting a double. George Fox and Pacific each had nine hits, while the Bruins had a perfect seven innings in the field compared to Pacific's pair of errors.

Hento went six innings for the Bruins, striking out seven while allowing five earned runs on seven hits. Allyssa DenDekker (7-8) finished the game in the seventh, allowing one earned run on two hits and was stuck with the loss.  For the Boxers, Collura allowed four earned runs on five hits in four innings before game-winner Allie Sims (10-4) pitched the final three innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits.

Game 2 – at Pacific 5, George Fox 1

The nightcap's scoring started early as Pacific got one home in the first inning before George Fox tied things in the top of the second when Megan Furtado doubled and scored on a throwing error after Howard hit a single.  Pacific edged in front again in the latter half of the inning as Collura hit an RBI single to make the score 2-1. The score stood that way for three-and-a-half innings until Pacific padded their lead with three runs in the sixth.

Furtado added a single to her double as the only Bruin with two hits.  DenDekker (7-9) went the distance in the circle for the Bruins, allowing five earned runs on 14 hits.  Sara Aasness (11-4) won in a complete-game effort as she let no earned runs across the plate on five hits.

NEXT: George Fox hosts Pacific in a doubleheader Sunday at 12:00 noon to close out the regular season for both teams.  The Bruins will honor their three graduating seniors - Felicia Chavez, DenDekker, and Hento - in ceremonies between games.