BELLEVUE, Wash. – Mountaineers Softball secured the weekend sweep Saturday afternoon with two more road victories over Northwest University. Eastern Oregon won 9-5 in game one of day two before posting a 10-1 run-ruled win in the finale.

With the 4-0 weekend sweep in hand, EOU returns to La Grande 34-11 overall and 19-5 in league play. The Mountaineers also clinched a spot in the 2022 CCC Tournament with the day two sweep and currently sit third in the standings entering the final two weeks of regular season play.

Game 1 – Eastern Oregon 9, Northwest 5
How it Happened
• Both teams hit the ball well, with EOU having the edge in the first game, 9-7. Northwest (14-30, 10-17 CCC) and Eastern both committed one error.
• The Eagles jumped ahead 2-0 to start, scoring a run in each of the first two innings. An RBI groundout in the first made it 1-0 before a solo home run in the second pushed the lead to 2-0.
• Eastern answered in the third on the swing of Hannah Tyree. She delivered a three-run homer to center field that gave EOU a 3-2 edge and the team never surrendered the lead.
• The Mounties' lead grew to 4-2 in the top of the fourth with an RBI groundout from Kayla Berg, scoring Grace Gaither. NU answered with a run in bottom of the frame on a sacrifice bunt.
• Despite getting within one, 4-3, the Eagles never managed to tie the game. In the sixth, EOU scored three more runs to go up 7-3 and held NU scoreless until the seventh.
• Berg continued to hit well, knocking a bases loaded RBI single, scoring Hannah Tyree. Haley Ebner then hit a two RBI single to center, plating Gaither and Audrey Kime to make it a four-run score.
• In the seventh, both teams scored a pair of runs. A Kime double scored Madison Stateler before a wild pitch allowed Tyree to score the final run and make it a 9-3 game.
• The Eagles final two runs came with two outs, but EOU limited the damage to avoid a rally. An RBI single to center scored the first run, followed by a double to left center to make it a 9-5 score. 

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Hannah Tyree batted 2-3, hitting a home run. She had three RBI, three runs scored, and drew a walk.
• Shelby Starr went 2-3 at the plate with one RBI. 
• Grace Gaither hit 1-3 with two runs scored and drew one walk.
• Haley Ebner was 1-2 in the win with two RBI and a walk.
• Kayla Berg went 1-3 at the plate and tallied two RBI. She pitched 5.1 frames with three strikeouts to improve to 4-1 in the circle.
• Abby Giles closed out the final 1.2 innings for her second save of the year and fanned two batters.

For the Eagles
• Jessica Nunes hit 3-4 with two RBI and scored two runs.
• Madisyn Leffle went 1-3 at the plate with a run scored and one RBI.
• Becca Rennick (2-10) pitched four complete and had one strikeout in the loss. 

Game 2 – Eastern Oregon 10, Northwest 1 (5 Innings)
How it Happened
• A nine-run fourth inning led EOU to the run-ruled win over the Eagles in the finale. The Mounties finished with eight hits and surrendered just three to the Eagles.
• Both teams came out strong in the first three innings. NU allowed just one hit in that span, while starter Mckenna Stallings went 1-2-3 for EOU to keep the game scoreless.
• In the fourth inning, EOU racked up seven hits to score nine runs. An infield error allowed the first run to score in Taylor Dow who led off with a base hit.
• NU then got in a jam, loading the bases for Eastern. Three straight RBI singles from Shelby Starr, Caitlin Crist and Madison Stateler, respectively, quickly got EOU ahead 4-0.
• NU managed to get two outs, but a two RBI single from Dow scored Crist and Starr to push the lead to 6-0. Grace Gaither then knocked an RBI base hit to score Stateler.
• With an 8-0 lead, the Mounties final run came on another bases loaded situation. The final run was a painful one as Ebner took a hit by pitch for the RBI to make it a 9-0 game.
• NU avoided the shutout, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff hit followed by a stolen base and single got the runner to third before a sacrifice fly scored her to make it 9-1.
• The Mounties scored their final run the same way the Eagles scored their lone run, with a sacrifice fly. Crist drew a leadoff walk, stole second and got to third on a throwing error.
• Bringing Crist in for the run scored was the game one hero in Tyree. She delivered a sacrifice fly to deep left field for the RBI, bringing the score to its final of 10-1.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Taylor Dow batted 2-3 with two RBI and scored a pair of runs.
• Caitlin Crist also batted 2-3 with two runs scored and had one RBI.
• Grace Gaither batted 1-2 with two RBI and scored a run.
• Madison Stateler went 1-2 at the plate with one RBI, a run scored, and drew two walks. 
• Mckenna Stallings pitched a complete game, striking out six to improve to 8-4 in the circle.

For the Eagles
• Madisyn Leffle batted 1-3 and scored a run.
• Kayla Stanley and Ashley Carter both went 1-2 at the plate.
• Bella King (8-13) suffered the loss. She struck out two batters in four innings.

By the Numbers 
7 - With the weekend sweep, EOU has now pushed its winning streak to seven games.
1 - This is the first time Eastern has ever swept the entire series against Northwest.
4 - Mckenna Stallings pitched her fourth complete game in the series finale win.
4 - Kayla Berg tallied at least one hit in all four games this weekend.
3 - Hannah Tyree's home run in game three is her third one of the season.
2 - EOU has now made the CCC Tournament each of the last two seasons under Nicole Christian.
56 - With the weekend sweep, Head Coach Nicole Christian is now at 56 wins for her career.

Up Next
• EOU will return home next weekend to face league leader No. 2 Oregon Tech for Senior Weekend. The series will take place Friday-Saturday, April 22-23 at Peggy Anderson Field.
• Day one action will begin at 2 p.m. for the doubleheader. Day two action is set for an 11 a.m. start. It will be Senior Day and EOU will honor eight seniors between the two games.

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