By Joshua Nutter

NEWBERG — The George Fox Softball team hosted Lewis & Clark for a league doubleheader on Sunday to finish off the four-game Northwest Conference bout. The Bruins swept the first doubleheader and brought their brooms on Sunday, sweeping the series with a 7-6 win in game one and a 7-2 victory in the second. 

Game One

The Pioneers started the game off aggressive at the plate, getting runners on second and third with two outs before Roni Braun tracked down a fly-ball to get the Bruins out of the inning. In the bottom of the first, Braun followed it up by going yard to put GFU ahead 1-0 with her third homer of the year. 

The Pioneers evened it up with a run scored on a Fox error in the top of the second inning. Courtney Hunt responded with a two-run homer for the blue and gold, scoring Mikaelie Sullivan to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Allison Meyer kept things rolling in the bottom of the second, extending the lead to 6-1 with a three-run bomb.

Lewis & Clark added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to narrow the margin to 6-3. Savannah Vargas opened up the bottom of the fourth with a blast, clearing the scoreboard and extending the lead to 7-3 with the Bruins' fourth homer of the game. 

The Pioneers scored two runs with one out in the fifth inning. With the lead down to two runs, the Bruins brought in Caitlyn Rhoades in relief of starter Ashley Davis. Lewis & Clark scored another run to come within one of the Bruins' 7-6 lead. 

Rhoades and the Bruin defense were able to stymy the Pioneers' bats for the next two innings to come away with the win. The victory went to Davis as the starter, her fourth win in as many tries and third in the past two days. 

Game Two 

The Bruins put Sarah Storton in the circle to start the game. The Pios got a run in the first inning on a Bruin fielding error for an early 1-0 lead. Vargas blasted her second homer of the day for three-runs in the bottom of the second.

Neither team got back onto the board until the fifth inning when Lewis & Clark's Alyssa Abe homered to center field to cut the Bruins lead to 3-2. George Fox added a run on a base hit by Jennifer McCue to extend the lead to 4-2. The Bruins then scored another run when Kimberly Pulido advanced on a fielding error. Braun smacked a bases-loaded double to score another two runs and give the Bruins a 7-2 lead. The growing lead caused the Pioneers to make a pitching change, sending reliever Megan Anderson to the circle. Storton blanked the Pioneers in the seventh and the Bruins wrapped up the win by a final of 7-2. 

Top Performers

Vargas had an excellent day at the plate for the Bruins, posting two homers in five at-bats for four RBI. The Bruins had three others go yard, with Braun, Hunt, and Meyer all clearing the fences in game one. Braun's 31 home runs are just two away from holding the program record. Storton pitched a solid game two, earning a complete-game victory and confining the Pioneers to two runs on four hits with no walks allowed. 

What It Means

The Bruins remained undefeated in NWC action as the leap out to a 7-2 start to their 2020 campaign.

What Happens Next 

The Bruins will take a trip to Arizona next weekend for the NCAA Leadoff Classic and play six games over three days. Fox will return home on March 14 to host Pacific Lutheran in an NWC series.