by Will Carsh
The softball team played four games against Pacific Lutheran University, with two on Saturday and two more on Sunday, and winning the first 3-0 and the second 9-1. Whitworth followed these games the next day with a 4-3 win and a 5-2 loss. In spite of ending on defeat, Whitworth won the series against Pacific Lutheran overall, continuing their streak of winning every series thus far. Sophomore Catcher Kayla Batastini credits the streak to practice ethic.
“We work really hard at practice all during the week, do exactly what we’re taught, and then come out and do our job,” Batastini said.
The first game of the weekend kicked off with a shutout. The Bucs began the game with a couple of runs within the first inning. Senior OF Peyton McMahon landed the first run by sending sophomore UT Shannon Wessel to home plate, and shortly completed a run of her own due to sophomore IF Tessa Matthews landing a hit.
The following inning yielded no change of score, but in the third, Whitworth added another run to the board with Matthews hitting a pop fly that resulted in sophomore Wessel landing another run. The team then managed to successfully prevent any points scored against them for the the remainder of the game.
The second game opened with the Bucs sacrificing a run early on and not scoring any in return for the vast majority of the match. However, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pirates managed to score nine consecutive runs, which in turn resulted in the game ending in that inning.
The second day of games opened with another Whitworth win. Wessel landed a hit in the fourth inning that resulted in a home run while two other players were on base. After adding three runs to the board, the Bucs were able to pass PLU’s two-run lead. While PLU managed to tie things up in the fifth inning, another home run by Matthews resulted in Whitworth winning the match.
“The best thing to do is to just keep pushing for more runs,” Wessel said about coming back from being behind in a game.
The weekend ended with the Bucs losing the final game of the series against PLU. After earning two runs during the second inning, PLU would go on to stay ahead for the rest of the game, in spite of sophomore IF Kelsey Stroshine and Kayla Batastini landing hits that resulted in a couple of Whitworth runs.
The final score of the game came down to a 5-2 Whitworth loss. However, Whitworth remains undefeated in series wins, a fact that Matthews credits to the team dynamic.
“When people need to get hits, they get on that and do their jobs, and we have really good pitchers and defense,” Matthews said.
Next weekend, the Bucs will go up against Pacific for another four games at home.