Wolves Rally for Softball Sweep of Saints

Wins help WOU maintain two-game lead over GNAC field.

Salem-News.com Sports

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Western Oregon rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning to claim a 4-3 win over Saint Martin’s in the second game of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday at the WOU Softball Field.

The Wolves also won the first game, 4-0, and are now 24-20 on the season and 13-3 in conference play. Western Washington and Seattle are both two games back at 11-5 in GNAC play.

Saint Martin’s fell to 3-34 on the year and to 2-16 in league action.

Brianne Dieringer tossed a shutout in the first game for WOU, while Jamie Becker drove home two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh of the second game for the comeback victory.

In that second game, SMU’s Sonya Ramos hit a two-run home run in the second inning and the Saints added another run in the fourth on a Megan Crager round-tripper to give the visitors the lead, 3-0. Meanwhile, Tana Lingl held the Wolves to four hits and no runs through the first five innings of play.

In the sixth, the Wolves cut into that lead with a two-run double by Krysta Pennington to make the count 3-2. In the seventh, Tyler Sutherland singled with one out, but the next Wolves batter struck out. Trina singled to right field to keep the rally alive, and Shannon Prochaska walked to load the bases. Becker then followed with the game-winner on a line-drive to center field, scoring Sutherland and Dorn.

In the opener, Dieringer scattered six hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter in picking up the win. For SMU, Lingl was again effective through the first four innings of play, not allowing a hit until Prochaska singled with one out in the fifth. One batter later, Melissa Wilson homered to left centerfield to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead.

WOU added two insurance runs in the sixth with a two-out rally. Amanda Fleer singled to keep things alive, and Dorn followed with a fence-clearer down the leftfield line. Dieringer put the Saints down in order in the seventh.

Dieringer also picked up the win in the second game in relief, improving to 11-7 on the season. She pitched three innings of run-less ball, allowing only two hits and no walks.

Prochaska, the Wolves lone senior, celebrated her final games at the WOU Softball Field with three hits in six at-bats. Crager and Marlaina Irwin had three hits each on the afternoon for SMU.

Western Oregon will now hit the road in their quest for a first-ever GNAC title, with conference games at Seattle on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday. The Wolves will also play non-conference games with the Redhawks on Friday and the Vikings on Sunday.

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