PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Eastern Oregon University softball team is off to its best start in five years after beating Lewis & Clark College twice Sunday, 8-1 and 10-2.
The Mountaineers (4-0) open the 2010 season with back-to-back sweeps over NCAA Div. 3 opponents. EOU took a doubleheader away from the Pioneers, who begin the season 0-7.
Jen McDonnell won her second collegiate game, allowing five hits and one run in 6.2 innings. The freshman struck out three batters and walked three. Eastern allowed only one hit through the first three innings.
Coming off of the their sweep Saturday, the Mountaineers started off right where they left off Sunday. EOU scored four runs off of three hits in the first inning. Eastern added another run in the third inning when
Suzie Espinoza brought in
Wailana Buchanan with a single to right field. Buchanan finished Game 1 with a pair of doubles.
The Pioneers run in the fourth inning was the only run scored by either side until a three-run seventh inning from Eastern Oregon. The Mountaineers racked up 11 hits in the first game, while L&C had five. EOU committed no errors for the second straight game. The Pioneers had one. Eastern left five runners on base and Lewis & Clark left seven.
EOU's
Krista Kountz had a home run for the second straight day. The senior brought in two runs with her third inning bomb. Espinoza picked up the Game 2 victory on the mound. The sophomore threw 2.2 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, which was extended to 4-0 with Kountz's two-run blast. The Pioneers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by a Jess Mullins' double to left center.
Neither team scored over the next three innings. McDonnell came in for Eastern and allowed only two hits over that period. The L&C fielding held the Mountaineers hitless, until EOU broke the score open with a six-run seventh inning.
Eastern Oregon and Lewis & Clark each committed no errors in the second game. The Pioneers left eight runners on base, while EOU left six.
The Mountaineers will play three exhibition opponents beginning Tuesday at Blue Mountain Community College. EOU hosts North Idaho College Saturday at noon. Eastern's next regular season game will be March 14 at Walla Walla University.
