Written by: Clayton Hashley
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Bellevue, Wash. – Northwest University (10-24) found themselves on the losing side in two consecutive games against No. 4 Southern Oregon University (3-5). They lost the first game 6-1 and the second game 8-3.
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Game one – Southern Oregon 6, Northwest University 1
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The Raiders started game one with a 5-0 run, scoring two runs in the first inning, one run in the third, and two more in the fourth. The Eagles did not get on the board until the bottom of the fourth, when Isabella Gonzales ran home after an error by the Raiders. The Eagles could not mount a comeback effort in the last few innings. They got a total of four hits in the game but never scored another run.
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For the Eagles, Rachel Hawley pitched five innings in the game. She had four errors, gave up ten hits, and threw one strikeout. Carly Tighe, the relief pitcher, added one more strikeout to the total and gave up only two hits in her two innings.
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Game two – Southern Oregon 8, Northwest University 3
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The Eagles showed a little more offensive life in the second game, scoring all three of their runs in three separate innings. However, Southern Oregon's 4-0 run in the first three innings to start the game put Northwest in a difficult situation. When the Raiders tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning, things were all but over. The Eagles managed to score in the fourth and seventh innings to make the game closer, but the nationally ranked Raiders proved too much in the end.
Isabella Gonzalez, Jessica Nunes, and Jordan Dippel earned the RBIs for the Eagles.
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Gonzalez and Hawley pitched for Northwest, allowing seven total hits between them.
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Northwest head coach
Pam Fink commented, "We shot ourselves in the foot the first game. Rachel pitched well, and Carly did well in relief. We have to keep fighting and keep getting better."
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