NEWBERG, Ore. – Erin Hento tossed a sparkling four-hit shutout to give the George Fox University Bruins a school-record 24th win 3-0 over Pacific University in the first game, but the visiting Boxers came back with 12 hits in the second game for an 8-3 victory in Northwest Conference softball action Sunday afternoon here at Morse Field.

George Fox ends its season 24-16 overall and 13-15 in the conference, tied for fifth with Pacific Lutheran University.  The Bruins and Lutes could conceivably end in a three-way tie for fourth if Willamette University drops both of its makeup games with Lewis & Clark College on Monday, but the Bruins have none of the tiebreakers and thus cannot make the four-team NWC Tournament.  Instead, they will have to settle for breaking the team record for wins set by the 1994 team, which went 21-8. 

Pacific improved to 24-10 overall and finished second in the conference at 19-9.  The Boxers will play in the NWC Tournament Friday-Saturday, Apr. 18-19, starting with third-place Whitworth University.  The tournament will be hosted by league champion Linfield College, whic will play either Willamette or Pacific Lutheran.

Game 1 – at George Fox 3, Pacific 0

Hento struck out four and walked only one in boosting her record to 13-6 in the opener.  She is second in the conference in both wins and strikeouts (107).  Her only trouble came in the 7th when she walked Kylee Oshiro and Emmie Moser doubled to put runners at second and third with nobody out.  Nalani Antonio hit what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to left, but pinch-runner Jordan Schmerbauch was called out for leaving third early, resulting in a double play, and Hento got the final out on a popup to preserve her third shutout.

The Bruins got all their runs off Allie Sims (10-5) in the 2nd, starting with Courtney Howard's second home run of the season over the center field fence to lead off.  Becca Olson struck out but reached first on a passed ball, setting up a pair of unearned runs when Kat Hylton tripled her in with two out and Kayla Anderson doubled to score Hylton.

Sims worked three innings, allowing five hits with four strikeouts and two walks, while Maddie Collura finished up with three innings of one-hit ball, fanning one and walking two. Howard was the only player in the game with two hits.

Game 2 – Pacific 8, at George Fox 3

The Boxers scored in six different innings in building up a big lead in the nightcap.  The first three runs - one in the 1st and two in the 3rd - were all unearned due to four George Fox errors.  Becca Moen singled in a run in the 4th, ground outs scored two runs in the 5th, and Megan Winans doubled in a run and scored on a single by Kaitlyn Shikada in the 7th.

The Bruins finally got on the board in the 7th against Sara Aasness (12-4), who until that point had a two-hit shutout going.  Megan Furtado singled to lead off and Baylee Westrick launched her seventh home run to left-center, tying for the team lead.  Sophie Haugen reached on a dropped popup at third and Ashley Bunce and Felicia Chavez followed with singles to load the bases.  Pinch runner Hento scored on Hylton's grounder to second before Aasness got the last out, finishing with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Allyssa DenDekker (7-10) went the distance for the Bruins, striking out five with one walk.  Rachel Roberts, Quirena Natividad, Oshiro and Kiera Melton had two hits apiece for the Boxers, with Roberts picking up her nation-leading 45th stolen base. 

NOTES: The Bruins honored their three graduating seniors - Chavez, DenDekker, and Hento - in ceremonies on the field between games … It was also the final regular season game for Pacific coach Tim Hill, who has announced his retirement when the Boxers' season is over.  Hill began his college coaching career at George Fox in 2001-02, earning NWC Coach of the Year honors in 2001, before moving over to Pacific for 12 seasons because he was offered a full-time position there.