TACOMA, Wash. – The Eastern Oregon University softball team picked up their first sweep of the season with strong 6-1 and 6-0 victories over Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon to open the four game series.
Game 1
The Mounties struck first as
Raygun Klippert worked a leadoff walk, stole second, and came around to score on a throwing error by the Puget Sound catcher. In the circle,
Maliyah Mann set the tone early, inducing a groundout before striking out the next two batters in a scoreless first inning.
Both teams were quiet over the next three frames. Mann worked around three walks in the second, escaping the jam with two strikeouts and a ground ball to keep Puget off the board. Eastern added to its lead in the fifth, stringing together singles and capitalizing on another Puget Sound throwing error to make it 2–0. Mann closed out her fifth and final inning with another strikeout and two pop-ups, finishing five shutout innings.
Camille Schmitz entered in the sixth, where the Loggers broke through with an RBI single from N. Estrada to trim the lead to 2–1. Eastern responded emphatically in the seventh.
Allison Baumgart was hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI walk by
Emily Barry.
Lexi Grumbois then delivered a three-run double to right field to extend the advantage to 6–1. Schmitz sealed the win with two flyouts, while Baumgart threw out a runner attempting to steal to end the game.
Mann (1–1) earned the win after striking out seven across five scoreless innings. Schmitz picked up the save, allowing one run over the final two frames.
Game 2
Eastern wasted no time getting on the board in the second game. Klippert opened with a single up the middle, followed by a base hit from
Isabella Lauerman.
Emily Barry drove both in with a two-run single to give the Mounties an early cushion.
Natalie Dimitrov was dominant in the circle from the start. She struck out six batters through the first two innings, allowing no hits and just one walk while keeping Puget Sound off balance.
The Mounties extended their lead in the third, piecing together four hits to add two more runs. Dimitrov continued to command the game, generating five infield groundouts over the next two innings to preserve the shutout.
Eastern plated its final two runs in the fifth. Fowler singled to center,
Loryn Barney executed a sacrifice bunt, and Grumbois brought Fowler home with an RBI single.
Isabella King followed with a sacrifice fly to score Grumbois and make it 6–0.
Dimitrov carried her dominance through the final innings, striking out two more batters and limiting the Loggers to just two hits over the last three frames. She finished the complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts, allowing only three hits and three walks to secure the sweep.
Lauerman, Barry, Grumbois, and Enriquez each tallied two hits on the day, with Barry driving in two runs. Dimitrov (1–0) earned the win, while Puget Sound's Madia (0–1) was charged with the loss.
Up Next
The Mountaineers continue the four-game series Sunday with games scheduled for 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. in Tacoma.
