April 11, 2008

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Backed by a strong pitching performance by Jennifer Jorgensen (So., Bellingham/Meridian), Western Washington University rallied to score two late-inning runs for a 2-1 win in the nightcap as it split with Western Oregon University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Friday at Viking Field on the WWU campus.

The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Vikings, which had tied the longest since their inaugural season in 1993. They are now17-14 overall and 6-4 in league play.

Western Oregon, which won the opener 2-1, is 16-14 overall and 5-5 in GNAC play. The Wolves' Tyler Sutherland decided the first game with a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning. A first-inning home run, her fourth of the season, gave WOU an early 1-0 lead in the second contest.

Western Washington tied the nightcap at 1-1 in the fifth when Katie Barker (Sr., Auburn/Auburn-Riverside) led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double by Kelsey Anderson (Fr., Mount Vernon).

The Vikings took the lead with another run in the sixth. Michelle Wrigley (Fr., Bothell/Inglemoor) opened the inning with a double and scored on a single by Meghan Flem (So., Hood River, OR/Hood River Valley), who had two hits in the game.

Jorgensen (2-1) went the distance for Western Washington, scattering five hits and striking out three.

Christina Cooke (3-8), who pitched five-plus innings before being relieved by Katie Fleer, got the loss for the Wolves.

In the opener, Fleer (9-4) gave up just one unearned run on five hits. She struck out five and walked two.

Western Washington's run came in the fourth.

Liza Teicher (Sr., Sammamish/Skyline) had a lead-off single. Pinch-runner Hilary Cosentino (Fr., Stevenson) stole second and scored on a dropped throw by the first baseman on a grounder to the pitcher by Caitlin Dotlich (Fr., Sedro-Woolley/Burlington-Edison).

The Vikings' Sarah McEnroe (So., Woodinville) (1-6) was the tough-luck losing pitcher, giving up the two-run homer to Sutherland in the fifth. She scattered five hits, struck out five and walked two, retiring nine straight during one stretch. In the fourth, McEnroe worked out of a one-out, runners on second and third jam with two strikeouts.

Western Washington, which was beginning a 10-game home stand, has scored just eight runs in its last seven games.

The Vikings host Saint Martin's University on Sunday (11 a.m.) in a GNAC doubleheader.