SALEM, Oregon – The Puget Sound softball team rallied for three runs with two outs in the seventh inning to win the first game of a doubleheader at Willamette Sunday. The Loggers lost the second game.
 
Puget Sound 7, Willamette 5
The Loggers entered the seventh inning trailing 5-4, but Mikayla Newman led off the frame with a single to center field. The odds were not in the Loggers' favor when the next two batters got out, but Kelsie Sullivan kept Puget Sound alive with a single through the left side.
 
A wild pitch allowed both runners to move up a base, and Lauren Rice tied the game with a single up the middle. An error on the play allowed Newman to score the go-ahead run.
 
Emma Kessler tacked on an insurance run with a single to right field, allowing Rice to come in to score.
 
The Loggers claimed a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. Savanna Smith led off with a single, and Jessica Moore followed with a double. Rice followed with an RBI single, and Kessler ripped a two-run double to right-center field.
 
Rice and Kessler finished the game with three hits, each. Hana DeGuzman and Rice eached swiped two bases.
 
Kendall Gantz earned the win by pitching 1.2 hitless innings in relief of Maddie Garcia. As the starter, Garcia allowed just three earned runs in 5.1 innings.
 
 
Puget Sound 1, Willamette 3
The Loggers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but it stood as their only run of the game.
 
DeGuzman drew a one-out walk, and then she put herself into scoring position by steal second. Smith drove DeGuzman home with a double to right-center field.
 
Kelsie Sullivan finished the game with two hits and a stolen base.
 
In the circle, Smith allowed just three earned runs in a complete-game effort.
 
The Loggers return home to host Lewis & Clark, March 12-13.