PORTLAND – The Warner Pacific University softball team headed south to face off against Pacific University on Saturday morning for the start of a Two-Day series with the Boxers. The Knights, coming off of a heavy-hitting season opening weekend, split the day with the Boxers, dropping game one 2-3 while securing game two 3-2, moving to 3-3 on the season.
 
The Knights, who last week made it clear they were capable of scoring, took today to prove they could defend as well; the Knights put up 23 assists to the Boxers' 10.  "Melia Croydon and Cierra Speck threw really well today and our defense today was outstanding" head coach Nathan Ohta commented. "We struggled a little bit finding our rhythm offensively, but our pitching and defense kept us in both ballgames and gave our offense the time we needed to make some adjustments and come up with a couple of big hits" he added.
 
Devinne Amesquita led the defense with seven assists, while offensively the Knights were led by Emma Foster's Homerun.
 
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The Rundown
After an impressive opening weekend, it seemed the Knights would make their presence known offensively this season, but it was the defense that shone today. Both offenses struggled to make contact on the day in game one, combining for 10 hits total.
 
Senior leftfielder Macy Besuyen led the way for the Knights with two hits, including a single to centerfield RBI to bring Sarah Stanfill in for the first score of the day. Pacific managed to find gaps in the Knight defense, scoring two runs in the fourth. At the top of five, junior second baseman Payton Hergert, with two on base, stepped up to the plate slinging the ball through the middle, bringing Bekah Roe home and the Knights had tied it up with two on base and zero outs.
 
Ultimately, the Boxers' defense tightened up, closed out the inning and at the bottom of the inning scored the game winning run. The Knights fell 2-3 in game one.
 
Starting at the mound for the Knights was freshman Melia Croydon, moving to a 2-1 record and tallying just five hits, one walk and contributing nine ground outs.
 
Game two much like game one was a defensive battle with just two more combined hits than the game before, with Warner Pacific making contact five times while the Boxers met the ball seven.
 
Stepping on the mound for Warner Pacific was newcomer Cierra Speck.
 
Giving up a quick run in the first inning, the Knights tightened up their defense, making it to the third inning down just one. It's the top of the third with two outs and enter Emma Foster. On the first pitch thrown her direction, Foster absolutely smashes a ball outside the center-left fence to tie the game up.
 
The next batter, senior catcher Katie Gleasman reached first on a walk and second on an error. Still with two outs, and one on base, Devinne Amesquita, a junior that led the Knights just a year ago with five homeruns in their shortened season, stepped up to the plate before blasting the ball to left field for a double RBI bringing in the go-ahead run. At the bottom of the third, the Boxers had a runner making her way home off of a hit sent to centerfield looking like the Boxers would tie it up, but the strong arm of Tatum Fell had other plans. The junior sent the ball soaring through the air to the catcher to tag the runner out at home, saving the game-tying run. At the end of three it was Knights 2, Boxers 1.
 
Through the next three innings, with a pitching change for the Boxers, both defenses plugged up one another's offense, forcing a score or go to extra innings mentality heading into the seventh.
 
Coach Ohta, making strategic substitutions as he often does, brought in Alexis Morrow to hit for the Valeti Fefita. Morrow gets walked and Fefita comes right back in, using her speed she steals second base. With one batter between the two, junior catcher Jamie Carlson takes the plate sending a ball to the left field fence for a double, bringing Fefita to cross home plate.
 
Closing out the top of the seventh with two strikeouts, the Boxers looked for a powerful offensive effort to erase the deficit and take the sweep of the day. The Knights defense had other plans. With what was a slight scare in a comeback, the first two batters reached bases, allowing for a SAC-fly RBI to bring the game within one. With what could have been the walk off hitter on base, the Knights closed out the night cap with a stellar double play with first baseman Emma Foster displaying her flexibility with a perfect splits.
 
 
Deeper Look
The Knights defense had two tag-outs at home plate in game two
Emma Foster smashed her first homer of the season
Jamie Carlson leads the team in RBI's with four
Payton Hergert leads the Knights with nine assists
 
 
Flash Forward
Warner Pacific will close out their preseason schedule with two more games at Pacific on Sunday before opening conference play at Eastern Oregon University on Friday, March 5^th.