PORTLAND, Ore. - A new era of Puget Sound Logger softball began
on Saturday afternoon as the Loggers split their season openers at
the Northwest Cup, hosted by Concordia (Ore.) at Delta Park in
Portland, Ore. In their opener, the Loggers collected a 6-0
win over Corban before falling, 8-5, to Eastern Oregon.
In the opener, the Loggers got on the board in the top of the
first inning when freshman Aryn Grause (Corvallis, Ore./Crescent
Valley) scored on one of two wild pitches to give Puget Sound a 1-0
lead.
The Loggers blew the game open in the sixth inning when
Stephanie Hatley (Keizer, Ore./McNary) scored on one of three
Corban errors in the inning. Megan Janes (Littleton,
Colo/Arapahoe) then singled to left center, scoring Grause and
Kelsey Scanlan (La Center, Wash./Clark CC). The Loggers got
their final two runs of the game when Hilary Rice (St. Paul,
Minn/St. Paul Academy) reached base on a Corban error that allowed
Cassie Walny (University Place, Wash./Curtis) and Janes to score
and give Puget Sound the 6-0 win and head coach Jennifer Peterson
her first career victory.
Sophomore Auriel Sperberg (Spanaway, Wash./Graham-Kapowsin)
earned the win, allowing six hits with two strikeouts in seven
scoreless innings pitched.
In the second game, Eastern Oregon struck first with one run in
the top of the first but the Loggers answered back in the bottom of
the inning. With one out, Meghan Watson (Brier,
Wash./Mountlake Terrace) reached base on an error that allowed Rice
to score and even the game at 1-1. Just a few batters later,
Watson scored following a wild pitch during a Grause at-bat to give
UPS the 2-1 lead.
EOU took the lead back in the top of the second, scoring two
runs to pull ahead 3-2 but the Loggers again answered back, this
time in the bottom of the third. Watson scored on a wild
pitch during an at-bat by Victoria Raeburn (Gladstone, Ore.) to
even the game up and then Hatley singled to left field to score
Anthea Aasen (University Place, Wash./Wilson) and then Hatley
scored on yet another wild pitch as the Loggers took a 5-3 lead
after three frames.
The Mountaineers tied the game up again in the top of the fourth
and the teams would stay tied until the top of the seventh when the
EOU bats would explode for two home runs and three runs as they
collected the 8-5 win. Grause would take the loss for
the Loggers, allowing three runs on five hits with two strikeouts
in two and two-thirds innings pitched.
The Loggers hit the diamond again on Sunday morning when they
return to Delta Park to take on Concordia (Ore.) at 9:00 a.m. and
Northwest Christian at 11:00 a.m.
Box Scores: Corban/Eastern
Oregon
