Story courtesy Whitworth Sports Information

SPOKANE, Wash. - Puget Sound rallied to win the finale of a four-game Northwest Conference softball series 8-6, evening the set at two games each on Saturday afternoon at Whitworth's Diana Marks Field. UPS got the final three outs to claim Friday's suspended game 13-9 before Jessica Mangis earned her fifth straight win with a 7-2 victory in Saturday's opener.

The Pirates (11-12 overall, 5-10 NWC) and Loggers (7-21, 5-11) played through intermittent snow flurries and gusty conditions throughout the day.

Friday Game 2 - Puget Sound 13, Whitworth 9

Auriel Sperberg came back in to get the final three outs of a game that had been suspended in the seventh inning by rain on Friday afternoon. She completed a game that she had started, while Aryan Grouse earned the win with 2.0 innings of relief.

Friday's winning rally came when Pirate pitchers walked or hit seven Logger batters. Alex Usher and Cassie Walny also had RBI hits in the inning. Both hit home runs earlier in the game.

Lacey Kerr hit a two-run home run in the first inning, her fourth of the year. But it was the one called back that was the difference in the game. Her shot high above the left field foul pole with the bases loaded in the second inning was called foul. She then struck out.

Walny went 4-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored to lead Puget Sound. Usher added three hits, three RBIs and three runs.

Tori Erickson had three hits for Whitworth, while Caty Lieseke drove in three runs for the Bucs.

Saturday Game 1 - Whitworth 7, Puget Sound 2

Jessica Mangis excelled at the plate and went the distance in the circle to improve to 6-3, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Mangis helped her own cause by hitting her first homer of the year in the second inning for a 2-0 lead.

Both teams scored single runs in the fourth. Walny singled in a run for UPS, while Mangis singled in her third RBI of the game for Whitworth.

Carolyn Moore hit a solo home run in the fifth to get the Loggers within 3-2. It was her first of the season.

Whitworth broke open the game in the sixth against Sperberg, who had started for UPS. With two out, Mangis singled and Sami Parr hit a two-run homer, her third of the season. Kelsey Ayers then beat out an infield single before Kerr hit her fifth homer of the season for the final margin of the game.

Kerr and Mangis both had three hits for the Pirates. No Logger hitter had more than one hit. Sperberg fell to 4-11 with the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits.

Saturday Game 2 - Puget Sound 8, Whitworth 6

Anthea Aasen's three-run home run in the sixth inning rallied the Loggers to victory in the series finale.

UPS took a 4-1 lead with three runs in the top of the third against Mangis, who finally had tired. Aasen singled in the first run of the rally, then Usher forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk. Katy Appleby's sacrifice fly drove in the final run of the rally.

Whitworth took a 5-4 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third. Heather

Hesselgesser's two-run single got Whitworth within 4-3. Pinch hitter Nina Ratliff singled home the tying run before Lieseke doubled home the final run of the rally.

Both teams scored single runs in the fifth. Grause homered to center field for the Loggers, her fourth of the year. Lieseke picked up her second RBI double of the game for the Pirates.

With two out and runners on second and third in the top of the sixth, Aasen homered to center field to put Puget Sound ahead 8-6.

Sperberg allowed only one Pirate hit over the final two innings, picking up a save. Grause started and allowed six runs on 11 hits, but earned the win (3-6) thanks to Aasen's timely home run. Alyssa Bergquist took the loss for Whitworth after she gave up four runs on four hits in relief.

Aasen had four RBIs and Grause had four hits and three runs scored to lead the Loggers offensively. Lieseke, Hesselgesser and Erickson all had two hits each for the Pirates.

Whitworth will host Lewis & Clark in a four-game Northwest Conference series next weekend. Puget Sound will host doubleheaders against Pacific (Ore.) and Linfield.