SPOKANE, Wash. – The George Fox softball team dropped their first game of the series in game one of their doubleheader against the Whitworth Pirates, before rebounding and shutting out the Pirates in game two and winning 6-0. 

How It Happened – Game One
The Bruins wasted no time getting a run across in the first game of the day, scoring in the top of the first off a Nicole Campa RBI single. The Pirates however did not let the Bruins keep the lead through the bottom of the first, as they quickly loaded the bases and then tied the game with a fielder's choice. With runners on first and second, Whitworth drew a walk to load the bases again, this time scoring a run off an RBI single. At the end of the first inning, the Pirates owned a 2-1 lead over GFU. 

The Bruins loaded the bases in the top of the third inning with no outs and looked prime to start a rally and regain the lead, however, the Pirates pitcher worked a pop-up, a fielder's choice that got the runner out at home, and a strikeout to escape the jam. Fox did manage to tie the game an inning later after a single from the bat of Makayla Noone scored a run, however, the Pirates broke the tie in the bottom half of that same inning after loading the bases and scoring on an error by the Bruins. After four innings the Bruins were down, 3-2. 

The Bruins were still hanging around, however, and put runners on the corners with one out in the top of the sixth. Noone then hit a sacrifice fly that scored the runner from third and tied the game at three runs each going into the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates hit the dagger shot to take the lead once again, hitting a two-run home run with no outs to put the Bruins behind, 5-3 going into their final at-bats in the top of the seventh. In the seventh, the Bruins offense couldn't generate anything against the Whitworth pitching, going down 1-2-3, and ending the game with a Bruins loss, 5-3. 

How It Happened – Game Two
Perhaps fueled by the disappointing loss in game one, Fox came out of the gates hard in game two, as Kiley Harris hit a two-run bomb, and Grace Wilson hit an RBI single with the bases loaded to put the Bruins up 3-0 at the end of the visiting half of the first inning. The Bruins starting pitcher for game two, Allison Heater, had a runner on first early in the first inning, but managed to work around it with a pair of fielder's choices and a clutch strikeout to strand a pair of runners and get out of the first inning with the Bruins lead intact as the Pirates were blanked. 

The Bruins scored a run in the top of the second inning in familiar fashion, off the bat of Sharon Tomei, who hit a solo shot to start the inning and increased the lead to 4-0 for the Bruins. In the top of the fifth shortstop Brooke Riggins hit a double down the right field line, then scored on an errant throw after she stole third base. After just the first three innings, the Bruins had taken a commanding 5-0 lead. 

Heater, meanwhile, was spinning a gem from the circle, throwing a no-hitter through the first six innings. Heater did this while only striking out one batter, forcing weak contact and using the stellar defense behind her to keep the Pirates out of the hit column. 

Noone added one more run after stealing home on a daring display of baserunning. The phenomenal steal gave Heater a 6-0 cushion as she looked to finish off her attempt at the no-hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, the Pirates managed to pick up a hit with two outs at the bottom of the seventh, spoiling the no-no for Heater. Heater refocused, and got the next batter to ground out to third base, ending the game with a 6-0 Bruins win and helping the Bruins win the weekend series, three games to one. 

Top Performances
Allison Heater threw seven innings of shut-out ball in game two, needing just 79 pitches to complete the game. She also threw four innings in game one, giving up just one run and getting a strikeout. Makayla Noone went 5-7 on the day, stealing five bags and breaking the George Fox record for career stolen bases. 

Coach's Thoughts
"It was important for us to come up and win the series this weekend," said Bruins head coach Nathan Ohta. "We've put ourselves in a good position going into the last two weeks of the regular season." 

What It Means
After the series win, the Bruins are 21-11 (15-5 NWC), and Whitworth is 5-25 (5-15 NWC). 

What Comes Next
The Bruins return to Newberg, Oregon, for a series against rival Linfield, starting at noon, on Saturday, April 26 at the Morse Athletic fields.