LINCOLN, Calif. – Mountaineers Softball wrapped up regular season non-conference play on a high note Sunday afternoon sweeping Marymount California University. Eastern Oregon picked up wins by finals of 5-3 and 9-5 over the Mariners to improve to 8-5 on the year.

Game 1 – Eastern Oregon 5, Marymount 3
How it Happened
• Helping the Mounties win the opener was a combination of quality hits and a clean performance on defense. EOU had eight hits in game one and did not record one error.
• On the flip side, the Mariners (2-11) nearly kept pace with Eastern, tallying five hits. Two MCU errors however cost the team two runs that led to the Mountaineers win.
• The Mountaineers grabbed the game's first lead in the first inning. Hannah Tyree drew a leadoff walk to start. Two batters later a fielder's choice got her to third before a MCU error allowed her to score.
• The Mariners answered in the second inning with a two-out rally. They managed to load the bases and a three-RBI double to right center scored the runners to give MCU a 3-1 edge.
• Eastern got a run back in the bottom of the second as Gaither led off with a triple. She was plated home two batters later on a Shelby Starr RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.
• Neither squad scored in the third of fourth frames. MCU worked a 1-2-3 outing in the bottom of the third, but EOU answered doing the same in the top of the fourth.
• The Mountaineers went ahead for good in the fifth scoring their final three runs. Two of the three runs were earned as the team tallied four hits to go ahead by two.
• Caitlin Crist led off with a single to left and was immediately plated home on a Hannah Tyree RBI double to left as well. Their quick hits made it a 3-3 tie before EOU completely took over.
• On the next at bat, Madison Stateler hit a single to get one and advanced on a MCU error. The hit got Tyree to third and she ultimately scored on the error to give Eastern the lead back at 4-3.
• Taylor Dow delivered the final run with an RBI single through the left side. Her hit scored Stateler to bring the score to the final of 5-3.
• Eastern locked in on defense over the final two frames. Reliever Abby Giles guided the Mounties working a pair of 1-2-3 frames in the circle to end the contest.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Taylor Dow went 2-3 at the plate with one RBI.
• Caitlin Crist also hit 2-3 in the win and scored a run.
• Hannah Tyree scored a game-high two runs and batted 1-2 with an RBI.
• Abby Giles (2-1) earned the win in 3.2 innings of relief. 
• Starter Kayla Berg had a game-high four strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.

For the Mariners 
• Shannelle Sablan went 2-3 and had a game best three RBI.
• Eriyan Odom also batted 2-3 in the loss and scored one run.
• Annalisa Panuco (0-4) suffered the loss. She had two strikeouts in four innings.

Game 2 – Eastern Oregon 9, Marymount 5
How it Happened
• The second contest was a bit more high scoring as EOU needed a late push offensively to secure the sweep. Eastern had 12 hits, to just eight by MCU and both squads had one error.
• The Mountaineers also relied on their bullpen in the win, using three relievers. Both teams relied on the defense around them as each pitching staff had just one strikeout on the day.
• The Mariners went ahead in the first, 1-0. They got runners on with a pair of two-out singles and a wild pitch ultimately scored the lone run.
• Eastern responded in the second as Kayla Berg led off with a double and got to third on a wild pitch. Grace Gaither scored her with an RBI single up the middle.
• MCU got the run back in the third as three hits helped them score a run to go ahead 2-1. The Mariners loaded the bases and plated home the run on a sacrifice fly.
• Once again EOU had an answer, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third to go up 3-2. A Berg double scored Madison Stateler, who led off with a single, to tie the score at 2-all.
• Plating home the second run of the frame was Jenna Gray. She hit a deep RBI single to left to score Taylor Dow who got on with a base hit. Her hit gave EOU the one-run edge.
• EOU then worked a 1-2-3 frame in the fourth and scored two runs to go ahead by three. Stateler plated the first run with a double to left, scoring Starr. 
• Following a pitching change by the Mariners, Stateler stole third and was plated home on an RBI sacrifice fly by Dow. The run gave EOU the 5-2 lead.
• MCU answered as well in the fifth scoring three runs to tie the contest at 5-5. It was the final runs scored of the game for the Mariners.
• A fielding error got a runner on and she made it to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Following a walk, a single scored the first run to cut EOU's lead to 5-3.
• The Mariners then loaded the bases and scored a run on an RBI single up the middle. The game-tying run came on a bases-loaded walk by EOU to make it a 5-all tie.
• Despite giving up the three runs, Eastern got out of the jam and held the game at a tie. The Mountaineers answered, scoring two runs in the final two frames to secure the win.
• In the bottom of the fifth, a trio of hits plated two across to put EOU back in front, 7-5. Karsyn Zaragoza scored first after a Starr single brought her home after she got on with a bunt.
• In the same instance of Starr's hit, an error by the Mariners allowed Audrey Kime to score the unearned run. Kima pinch hit for Ebner and got on with a fielder's choice.
• Amanda took over in the circle in the top of the sixth and was superb. She forced three-straight groundouts in the sixth to get the EOU bats back out quickly.
• In the bottom of the sixth, EOU got two runners on thanks to a hit by pitch and single. Berg then hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Stateler. Gaither made it 7-5 with a sacrifice fly as well to score Dow.
• In the seventh, Smith and the defense made quick work of the Mariners with another 1-2-3 frame. She forced a groundout and a pop up before fanning the final batter for the win.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Madison Stateler hit 2-3, scoring three runs and had one RBI.
• Kayla Berg went 2-3, tying a game-high in RBI with two to go along with a run scored.
• Grace Gaither also had two RBI in the win and hit 2-3 as well.
• Taylor Dow batted 2-3 as well and scored two runs to go along with an RBI.
• Abby Giles (3-1) secured her second straight win in one complete inning as a reliever.
• Amanda Smith earned the save, her second, pitching the final two frames and had a strikeout.

For the Mariners
• Eriyan Odom hit 2-4 with a run scored and had one RBI.
• Miranda Hipolito also hit 2-4 and scored a run.
• Annalisa Panucho (0-5) suffered her second straight loss in 2.2 innings and had one strikeout.

By the Numbers
12 - EOU tied its single game high in hits for the season with 12 in the game two win.
3 - Eastern had three sacrifice flies in game two, which is the most in a game this year.
1 - The Mounties struck out just once in game two, which is the lowest in a game this year.
1 - Abby Giles gave up just one hit in her two wins on Sunday.
2 - Despite having her seven game hitting streak snapped in game one, Kayla Berg responded in game two with two hits, both of which were doubles.

Up Next
• Cascade Collegiate Conference play. The Mountaineers begin league play next weekend in Eugene at Bushnell University, March 4-5. Day one action begins at 1 p.m., with day two starting at 11 a.m.

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