SALEM, Ore. - Nearly pulling out the upset in the nightcap, the Puget Sound Loggers dropped a pair of games to the 11th-ranked Willamette Bearcats in a Northwest Conference softball on Friday afternoon in Salem, Ore.

In the first game, the Loggers held the 11th-ranked Bearcats scoreless through four innings.  Willamette finally broke the tie in the fifth inning with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.  In the top of the sixth, the Loggers used an RBI double by Meghan Watson (Brier, Wash./Mountlake Terrace) to score Amelia Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, Calif.) to get back within one run.  One more run in the bottom of the sixth gave Willamette the eventual 3-1 victory. 

Nikki Franchi got the win for the Bearcats, allowing just one run on three hits with 12 strikeouts in seven innings pitched.  Auriel Sperberg (Spanaway, Wash./Graham-Kapowsin) took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits with three strikeouts in six innings pitched.

In the nightcap, the Bearcats scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead.  The Loggers evened things up in the top of the third when Watson singled in Caroline Moore (Seattle, Wash./Holy Names).  The Loggers took their first lead of the afternoon in the sixth inning when senior Victoria Raeburn (Gladstone, Ore.) homered to left field to put the Bearcats on the ropes.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Bearcats came out fighting, using a pair of sacrifice flies to bring home the final two runs of the game to collect the 3-2 victory.

Alex Watilo got the win for Willamette, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings pitched.  Aryn Grause (Corvallis, Ore./Crescent Valley) took the loss for Puget Sound, allowing three runs on six hits in six and two-thirds innings pitched.

The Loggers will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to McMinnville, Ore. to take on Linfield.

Box Scores: Game One/Game Two