April 13, 2008

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Sarah McEnroe (So., Woodinville) pitched a three-hit shutout and pinch runner Hilary Cosentino (Fr., Stevenson) scored the game's only run on a bases-loaded walk to pinch hitter Emily Hardin (Fr., Bothell/Inglemoor) in the bottom of the seventh inning as Western Washington University edged Saint Martin's University, 1-0, in the opener of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Sunday at Viking Field on the WWU campus.

Saint Martin's came back to win the nightcap, 6-3, scoring five runs in the top of the fifth inning after trailing 3-1.

Western is 18-15 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Vikings are tied for fourth place in the GNAC standings, but just one game separates the top five teams. Saint Martin's is 16-23 overall and 4-8 in GNAC action.

In the first game, McEnroe (2-6) allowed just three Saints to reach second base, striking out three and not issuing a walk.

Saint Martin's pitcher Jamie Herrick (3-8) also gave up only three hits

Not one Viking got past first base until the seventh.

Western's Liza Teichler (Sr., Sammamish/Skyline) reached first on an error by the shortstop and was replaced by Cosentino, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Katie Barker (Sr., Auburn/Auburn-Riverside). Herrick got a strikeout for the second out, but then walked three straight Vikings, the last being Hardin, to force in Consentino.

Those were the only walks of the game for Herrick, who struck out four. Consentino stole third base after the first walk.

Two of Western's hits were by Michelle Wrigley (Fr., Bothell/Inglemoor).

The only extra-base hit of the game was a double by Saint Martin's Holly Morris with one out in the fourth.

In the second contest, the Vikings took a 3-1 lead. They scored twice in the first as Lisa Pendergrast (Sr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison) had an RBI-single and an error on the same play allowed another run to score. Katie Barker (Jr., Auburn/Auburn-Riverside) led off the second with a double and later scored on a fielder's choice by Kelsey Anderson (Fr., Mount Vernon).

Saint Martin's, which got an unearned run in the second, scored five times in the fifth, two of those runs being unearned, as Western, which had four errors in the game, committed two miscues.

Kristine Kaneshiro had a two-run double for the Saints, Morris a one-run single and Lisa Holombo a solo home run, her first of the season.

Alicia Fuchs (6-3) pitched the first five innings for Saint Martin's, giving up four hits and three runs, and reliever Brandi Klemm earned a save with two scoreless frames.

Klemm, Morris and Holombo each had two hits for the Saints, and Pendergrast was 2-for-3 for the Vikings.

Western starter Jennifer Jorgensen (So., Bellingham/Meridian) (2-2) allowed five runs, three earned, in 4-1/3 innings.

The loss was the eighth in the last 10 games for the Vikings and the three runs they scored were the most in their last nine contests.

Western has been without its No.1 pitcher Jessica Rosencrants (Jr., Sequim) for the last four games because of tendonitis. She is expected to return Friday (2 p.m.) when the Vikings entertain Northwest Nazarene University in a GNAC doubleheader.