SPOKANE, Wash. -- The George Fox softball team won both games of their doubleheader in five innings, winning with the eight-run mercy rule both times after taking game one 10-1, and game two, 12-2. 

How It Happened – Game One
The Bruins offense struggled in the opening innings of the first game, leaving runners on base at the end of each inning. The Pirates grabbed their first and only run of the game in the bottom of the second, hitting a solo homer to lead off the inning before GFU starter Jordyn Relethford worked out of a jam to end the inning. 

With Fox down a run in the top of the third, the offense got to work: Sharon Tomei got on base after a hit-by-pitch, and Makalya Noone hit a bunt single that moved Tomei to second. Kylie Harris and Nicole Campa then drew back-to-back walks that scored the first run of the day for GFU and tied the game at 1-1. Sydney Sandifer picked up an RBI later in the inning after a bases-loaded HBP that gave GFU the 2-1 lead after the top of the third. Relethford used a double-play and a flyout to end the home half of the third without the Pirates being able to score again. 

The offense kept rolling in the top of the fourth, as Harris hit a two-RBI bomb to push the Bruins' lead to 4-1. Campa followed Harris's blast with a homer of her own, as the back-to-back home runs made the score 5-1 in favor of GFU, and forced the Pirates starter out of the game. 
Relethford threw a scoreless, 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth that turned the game back over to the Bruins' bats, which took that moment and exploded for five runs in the top of the fifth. 

The barrage started with a walk, followed by a Sandifer double that moved the runner to third. With runners at second and third, Relethford helped her own cause with an RBI single that moved Sandifer to third and scored the runner from third. With runners at the corners, Tomei came up to bat and did what she has been doing all year long and hit a clutch homer that scored three runs and pushed the lead to 9-1. Noone hit a single, and after stealing a second was driven home by a single from Campa that gave GFU the 10-1 lead. 

The Pirates managed to put two runners on Relethford with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, who had retired 5 straight batters leading up the frame. Relethford responded once again, stranding both runners after forcing a fly ball to center field and into the glove of Noone. The Bruins ended the game with the mercy rule in the fifth inning, winning the opening game of the series 10-1. 

How It Happened – Game Two
The brilliant pitching of the Bruins paired with the potent offense continued in game two of the series. Bruins' starter Nicole Ledendecker found herself in a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the bottom of the first inning. After giving up a run, Ledendecker shut down the Pirates with a strikeout and two put-outs to end the inning after giving up just one run and stranding three runners. The Bruins capitalized on the opportunity in the top of the third, scoring six runs on three hits. Tinley Taylor and Tomei each picked up RBI base hits, but the highlight of the inning was the grand slam hit by Campa with two outs that pushed the score to 6-1 heading into the bottom of the second inning. 

Fox tacked on five more runs in the third, as Taylor picked up another RBI, Noone hit a two-RBI triple and Harris two RBI home run, the second of the game for the Bruins. At the end of just the third inning, the Bruins had 11 runs on 7 hits and led Whitworth 11-1 heading into the fourth inning. 

The Pirates squeaked a run in the fourth inning to make the game 11-2 at the end of the fourth, to which Tomei responded by hitting a solo shot that brought the game back to a ten-run difference, 12-2. Bruins' pitcher Bailey Farrimond shut down Whitworth in the home half of the fifth, ending the game with a 12-2 win and giving the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the series.

Top Performances  
Sharon Tomei went 4-6 from the plate with five RBIs and a home run. Nicole Campa went 3-5 on the day, hitting a grand slam in game two, and Jordyn Relethford went five innings in game one, allowing just one run and three hits and striking out two.

What It Means
The Bruins are now 20-10 (14-4 NWC) and have won six games straight after sweeping Willamette last weekend. Whitworth is now 4-24 (4-14 NWC). 

What Comes Next
The Bruins round out the weekend series against the Pirates on Saturday, April 19, with the first game scheduled for 11 a.m. in Spokane, Wash.