Junior Makayla Lefever continued her dominant season on Friday morning with seven more epic innings, allowing only two runs and striking out five as she led the Bucs to a 4-2 victory over the Pacific (Or.) Boxers in the opening game of the 2016 Northwest Conference Tournament.

Last weekend, Lefever fired off 15 straight innings in games two and three of their quad with Linfield to secure two crucial victories, and a regular season NWC championship.

“We had a lot of resting time during the week so we could prepare to go in fresh this weekend,” Lefever said. “I think that helped with our success this morning. We weren’t tired and we knew that we prepared well.”

On the other side of the diamond, Pacific senior Marissa Reichard threw the ball well, but the Bucs’ offense got the job done when it mattered.

Sophomore Kelsey Downey picked up a pair of hits and scored two runs, one of which she scored on sophomore Michelle Silva’s two-run bomb with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Morgan Portlock got a piece of the action as well, notching a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to pad the Pirates’ lead.

With one tournament victory in the bag, the Pirates are far from done, as their sights are set beyond the confines of Marks Field and their Northwest Conference opponents. The Bucs will play again this afternoon at 4:30 pm against the winner of George Fox vs. Linfield.