BELLEVUE – Northwest scored three runs against top-ranked Oregon Tech but fell 7-1 and 7-2 in Friday's Cascade Collegiate Conference doubleheader.
 
Defense was NU's undoing in the first game, committing five errors that led to six unearned runs.
 
Trailing 1-0, NU tied the game in the second inning when Jamelah Lewis doubled and scored on a single by Cedella Ritchie.
 
Oregon Tech took the lead for good with three runs in the third, including an RBI ground out by Maggie Buckholz.
 
An RBI single by Zoe Allen in the fourth made it 5-1 and the Owls added two more in the seventh, including an RBI single by Jayce Seavert.
 
Both teams had five hits in the game with Kayla Stanley picking up two for the Eagles.
 
Natalie Dimitrov took the hard-luck loss while striking out six batters. Kacie Schmidt got the win, fanning 11 Eagles.
 
The Owls broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with a six-run eruption, including a three-run home run by Paukea Milbourne, a two-run double by Buckholz and an RBI hit by pitch for Seavert.
 
OIT went up 7-0 in the fourth on a wild pitch.
 
NU got both of its runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Sydney Maurer and an RBI double by Paige Creasey.
 
Allen had three hits to lead the Owls, who out-hit NU 9-8. Ritchie had two singles and Abby Blahut added a double in Northwest's eight-hit outing.
 
"When we play good defense, we can play with anyone," said NU Head Coach Pam Fink. "We just have to be able to adjust better to good pitching. We're right there, though. We'll come back out again tomorrow and get after it."
 
Mckenzie Staub got the win with six strikeouts for OIT while Bella King fanned five batters for NU.
 
The teams wrap up the doubleheader on Saturday at Bellevue High School, starting at 11 a.m.