TACOMA, Wash. – The sun came out at the University of Puget Sound, but the Logger softball team fell twice to Whitworth on Saturday. The Pirates (4-10, 2-4 NWC) captured the first game 6-4 and outlasted the Loggers (0-6, 0-2 NWC) 12-9 in a ten inning marathon in the nightcap.
 
Game 1 – 6-4
The Pirates jumped out to an early lead with a solo homer from Erin Ghigleri in the first and never looked back. A pair of run-scoring doubles and a sacrifice fly in the second boosted the Pirates lead to 4-0.
 
Chrissy Atterson broke the silence for the Loggers blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-2. In the fourth, the Joleen Monfiletto doubled in Jenica Holt to cut the lead even further to 4-3.
 
Emily Anderson took over for the next couple innings to hold the Logger bats silent. She went on to earn the complete game win.
 
Her offense padded the lead in the sixth as Kimmi Kumangai hit her second RBI-double of the game and Jill Pecka brought in Kumangai with another double. Those runs proved to be crucial as Christina Demuelenaere singled in Carolyn Moore in the seventh to cut the lead to 6-4.
 
Auriel Sperberg took the loss in the circle, tossing 5.1 innings and striking out three. Jennifer Davis tossed the final 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit.
 
Game 2 – 12-9 (10 inns.)
The nightcap featured a back-and-forth marathon with the Loggers refusing to go quietly. After the first three frames, the teams had already traded leads twice and had the score tied at 4-4. Whitworth jumped back in the driver's seat with a run in the fourth and sixth inning and two in the fifth.
 
Heather Hesselgesser and Jamie Brunner combined to go 9-for-11 in the middle of the Pirates lineup. Each tallied an RBI and the duo combined for seven runs to lead the Pirates.
 
Down 9-7 in the bottom of the seventh, Atterson hit her second homer of the day to leadoff the frame and cut the lead to 9-8. Aryn Grause then singled to put the tying run on base. After a sacrifice bunt from Alex Usher, Grause moved up to second and continued rounding the bases on a Whitworth error. She scored after the error to tie the game up at 9-9 and send it into extras.
 
Whitworth again took a lead on a Julia Johnson homer in the top of the eighth. The Loggers responded when Demuelenaere singled to left and plated Monfiletto to tie up the game at 10-10.
 
After a scoreless ninth, Hesselgesser ledoff the top of the 10th with a solo shot and Pecka picked up a two-RBI double to take a 12-9 lead. Anderson tossed a scoreless inning in the bottom half to send the Pirates home with the sweep.
 
Anderson tossed the final 5.2 innings of the game to earn the victory. Sperberg took the tough loss, throwing the final 4.2 innings and striking out three.
 
The Loggers and Pirates battle again tomorrow in a doubleheader with the first game starting at noon.