by Nicole Oh | Staff Writer
Last Friday and Saturday the Whitworth Pirates traveled to Forest Grove, Or. to play Pacific University. On Friday the Pirates fell in both games, 7-9 in the first and 1-8 in the second game of the day. On Saturday the Pirates won the first game with a final score of 7-4, however fell to the Boxers in the second game with a score of 6-10. After playing this weekend the Pirates are now 15-11 in the Northwest Conference. Pacific is currently 15-13.
In the first game on Friday senior Michelle Silva and freshman Kinsey McNaught worked together to get one run back after a 2-0 lead by the Boxers. In the fourth inning the bases were loaded for the Pirates. Freshman Kaylie Lowery walked in a run, and on top of that, senior Chelsea Hayes cleared the bases with a three-run double. In the second game the Pirates fell behind early, but with help by senior Allie Rude singling home freshman Morgan Portlock to gave the Pirates one point.
“Although Friday was really tough to go through we flushed it and moved on to Saturday,” Portlock said. “We had good energy and positivity. Overall we learned a lot about ourselves, our mentality and what we need to work on.”
On Saturday the Pirates came back and won their first game. Freshman Sara Gayer drove a double into right center field, scoring the two runners on first and second base. Senior Kelsey Downey singled home Gayer, giving the Pirates another run. At this point, the Pirates had a 3-0 lead. In the sixth inning both the Boxers and the Pirates were able to add a run. Sophomore Natalie Edlin scored freshman Brynn Radke, upping the score to 4-2. Hayes, Silva and Portlock each added another run. In the last game of the weekend, Pacific started things off scoring six straight runs to open up the lead immediately. After a three-run fifth inning which included a RBI triple from McNaught, the Pirates looked to bounce back however, the Boxers three runs in the fifth and sixth innings gave them the win.
“It was not our best showing, we were hoping to clench that third place spot, but now we will have to win against Willamette on Tuesday,”McNaught said.“We will work on cleaning up defense and working on fixing mental mistakes. We are going to work on taking things pitch by pitch and making adjustments as needed.”
If the Pirates win their make-up game on April 17 against Willamette University they will secure their team goal of being the third seed going into the conference tournament.