PORTLAND | The Warner Pacific University Softball team (5-19, 3-12) put on the best offensive and defensive efforts that Knights' fans have been looking for all season earlier today, as WPU swept the weekend doubleheader games from Northwest University (8-20, 5-10) by duplicate scores of 7-5, clinching their first conference series of the year.
 
"They played for each other, they came to fight, and I'm extremely proud to have a team that can have fun and still challenge themselves at the same time," Knights' Head Coach Alex Flores shared.
 
"I have to tip my cap and give credit to my assistant coach, Ashton Porter, for her phenomenal pitch calling this afternoon," Coach Flores continued. "The pitching staff did a great job leaning and relying on each other, and the outfield made some amazing plays!"
 
Coach Flores went on the say, "Everyone was loud, competitive and believed in each other from the first pitch. In our post game chat, everyone was smiling ear to ear, and it warms my heart to see them all get what they earned, a pair of great conference wins!"
 
Game 1
 
The final conference contest between the Eagles and Knights began just as the second game from yesterday's doubleheader did, with Northwest quickly jumping out to a 2-0 lead via consistent hitting at the top of the lineup.
 
Eagles' leftfielder Madisyn Leffle immediately got on base via a single to left field, and stole second base for her fifth robbery of the weekend. She scored the very next at-bat when catcher Kayla Stanley hit safely to center field. Stanley followed in part with Leffle by stealing second base, and crossed the plate two batters later on first baseman Nicola Fish's one-out double into the left center gap.
 
Northwest tacked on another run in the top of the second inning thanks to another single from Leffle, scoring designated player Ashley Carter from third base. The Eagles were once again looking at a 3-0 lead over Warner Pacific early in a conference contest, but this time, they had their game one ace in the pitching circle.
 
Starting pitcher Bella King (5-9) was masterful through the first 3.0 innings, working her way out of situations every opportunity to keep the Knights scoreless heading to the bottom of the fourth inning. However, after pitching her way out of a bases loaded, no out scenario in the bottom of the third, she could not replicate the same outcome the second time.
 
Sophomore shortstop Faith Vadelund had herself quite the afternoon in game one, as she kicked off the WPU scoring with a two-run, bases loaded single to climb the Knights to within one score of the Eagles. The next at-bat, senior centerfielder Paityn Willoughby cracked a sacrifice fly ball deep enough into right field to allow senior second baseman to score from third, tying this game at three runs apiece.
 
Vadelund wasted no time exploiting King once again in the bottom of the fifth inning, as another two RBI at-bat plated the go-ahead runs for the Knights to take their first lead of the afternoon. Willoughby cleaned up the bases once again before the end of the frame, scoring Vadelund from second on a single to right-center field, and stretching the score to a 6-3 WPU advantage.
 
Warner Pacific added another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a single from designated player Morgan Docker that scored starting pitcher Carrigan Foster (1-3) from third base, leaving the Eagles with a 3-7 deficit they were looking to overcome in the top of the seventh.
 
Northwest made things interesting in their last frame of regulation innings, as a pinch hit double and a single from Leffle plated one run, right before Leffle scored on a double from Stanley following her third stolen base of the game. This cut the Warner Pacific lead to just two runs, and started to make Knights fans uncomfortable in the stands.
 
Willoughby, who had been one of the shining stars offensively for Warner Pacific to this point of the game, had yet to see her fair share of playable balls through the first 6.1 innings of gameplay. That all changed during the final two at-bats for Northwest.
 
With a single out and a runner aboard, rightfielder Emily Barry stepped to the plate representing the tying run. She quickly turned on a pitch that started to tail away from Willoughby in shallow centerfield, but the catch was made nonetheless to hold the runner at second base.
 
Fish, who had an RBI and a single earlier in the contest, now dug into the batter's box with the same scenario, now with two outs. On the first swing, Fish absolutely torched the ball Willoughby's way, with enough arc to sail out of the ball park, and possibly tie this game.
 
Willoughby tracked the blast of a hit all the way to the base of the breakaway fence, and launched herself into the netting to secure the final out, with her glove well above the top of the fencing, thus robbing Fish of the game-tying home run and walking off with the conference series-clinching victory.
 
C. Foster earned her first win of the season in the circle for the Knights, going a season-high 7.0 innings of complete game ball to allow five runs off 11 hits, striking out a pair of Northwest batters along the way and walking none.
 
The power combo of Vadelund and Willoughby at the top of the Warner Pacific lineup left the Eagles looking for answers the entirety of game one, as four hits and four RBIs for Vadelund, followed by two hits and two RBIs for Willoughby, accounted for over half of the WPU offensive scoring. Freshman leftfielder Jessie Ramirez had the best game of her young collegiate career in the seventh spot of Coach Flores' lineup, slashing a 3-for-4 line with two runs scored.
 
Eagles' King had her feathers ruffled for six runs on 12 hits in 5.0 innings pitched, walking a pair and striking out a pair in the process. Relief pitcher Sydney Maurer gave up a run on a single hit through her 1.0 inning of work, and struck out a Knight prior to allowing the scoring play.
 
Leffle continued her dominance at the plate and on the basepaths for Northwest, hitting safely for three knocks, two RBIs, and scoring two runs while snagging three bases. Stanley matched her teammate with three hits of her own, two of which were deep doubles, and added two RBIs and a run scored to her final stat line.
 
Game 2
 
Following the first conference series win of the season for Warner Pacific this morning, Coach Flores and the Knights looked to continue the same success in the non-conference contest early this afternoon. WPU had found success in come-from-behind scenarios thus far, but still needed to test their ability to hold an early lead into the late-game stage.
 
The opportunity to do just that rose in the first inning for the Knights, as a bases loaded walk, followed by an error that moved the runners once again and a single from Ramirez plated three runs to begin the contest, much like the Eagles had done the two games prior. However, Warner Pacific was looking to flip the script and hold the 3-0 lead this time around.
 
That hope began to diminish the very next inning, as a double from Northwest' leftfielder Jordan Dippel scored two runners to cut the lead to 3-2, an exact replica of what the Knights accomplished in games two and three of this series.
 
Warner Pacific broke the game script trend in the bottom half of the second inning, plating another three runners on a Willoughby single and junior rightfielder Emma Foster's single to centerfield, followed by a designed rundown play that resulted in E. Foster to be tagged out on an attempt to steal second, all while C. Foster snuck home from third base to stretch the lead to 6-2 in favor of WPU.
 
Northwest added a run in the top of the fourth and fifth innings to cut the lead in half, but Ramirez extended the lead to three runs once again with a single that scored pinch runner Ashley Hawkins from second base.
 
The Eagles found themselves in the same situation once again in the top of the seventh inning following a one-run sixth inning, staring up at the same two-run deficit they saw in game one of today's doubleheader, with the WPU lead at 7-5. Northwest loaded the bases with only one out, threatening to blow back into this contest, but Knights' relief pitcher Abby Carlson was able to induce the final two outs without any damage being done, and forcing the Eagles to leave all three runners on base to end the four-game series.
 
Carlson (1) earned the save out of the bullpen following two starting roles in Friday's doubleheader, helping Knights' starting pitcher Sammie Brauckmiller (1-5) earn her first win in the circle this season. Brauckmiller tossed 5.0 innings of eight hit, five runs ball with a pair of strikeouts and allowing three Eagles a free ticket to first base via walks, while Carlson shut the door on Northwest to allow no runs on four hits.
 
Willoughby continued her incredible performance today at the plate with a 3-for-4 showing in game two, plating a run via RBI and scoring two herself. Ramirez added another two hits and two RBIs to her clutch doubleheader display, this time defensively from behind the plate to catch for Brauckmiller in her natural position.
 
Warner Pacific knocked around Eagles' starting pitcher Becca Rennick (0-6) for seven runs on 10 hits, while earning three free passes and striking out twice in Rennick's sixth loss of the season.
 
Leffle failed to record a hit in game two, but earning two trips to first base via walks allowed her to steal another three bases, and thus setting the Northwest University single-season stolen base record in just 28^th contest of the year. Leffle is now averaging a stolen base per game, and ranks second in the conference in the statistical category.
 
Third baseman Sam Parisio came off the bench to record a 3-for-3 game two performance, scoring two runs along the way. Dippel recorded two hits with three RBIs while batting second in the lineup.
 
Warner Pacific Softball looks ahead to prepare for yet another important conference weekend at Erv Lind Stadium, as the Knights will host (RV) Eastern Oregon University next weekend on April 1^st & 2^nd, with game one and two slated for 1pm and 3pm PDT Friday afternoon.