By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
Sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian led Wolves softball to three victories over the weekend. The Wolves traveled north for a long weekend, playing four games against Western Washington and two against Simon Fraser, beginning on April 21.
The Wolves experienced a stop-and-start weekend, going 3-3, with each of their wins coming from complete games pitched by Fabian.
“My catchers and I were able to find the batters’ strengths and weaknesses after their at bats and then adjust to it,” Fabian said.
In the first day of double headers, the Wolves fell to the Western Washington Vikings 1-13 then beat them 6-1.
Western Washington opened the game with immediate scoring. They would not relent, as they put up runs in every inning on first-year pitcher Chandler Bishop.
Game two was another story; Fabian locked the Vikings batters down, allowing only three hits and striking out six.
The Wolves offense scored all six of their runs in the second inning.
Seniors Kelsie Gardner and Hailee Watilo each picked up an RBI while they got on base, and were themselves batted in by a double from sophomore Cheyanne Rimer.
In their second day of battle with the Vikings, the Wolves lost by a narrow 5-6 and won by a narrow 1-0.
Western Oregon picked up the lead in the second inning of the first game, when senior Mercedes Green slugged a two-run home run. They held onto this lead until the bottom of the final inning.
Senior Sammi Cadwallader hit the Vikings batter with a pitch with bases loaded. The floodgates were then opened, and Western Washington put up enough runs to snag the victory.
Fabian pitched the second game for a shutout performance.
Senior Emma Alfonso scored the only run of the day to lead the Wolves to the win.
The Wolves went further north, to Burnaby, Canada, to face Simon Fraser.
An error in game one’s first inning allowed Simon Fraser to score their first two runs, and they would hold onto this lead as the Wolves took the 0-4 loss.
The Wolves regrouped for an 8-7 victory in the afternoon.
Fabian had five strikeouts over the first five innings, while Green, Rimer and sophomore Jenna Kelly all hit home runs. The Wolves took an 8-0 lead going into the sixth, when the Clan came back resurgent.
The Wolves defense was able to stop another comeback victory. With two outs, Simon Fraser hit a grand slam and followed it with a solo home run in the seventh to come within one.
Gardner, playing at shortstop, then snared a grounder to end the game.
“We need to come out and win every game we can,” Gardner said afterwards, looking ahead to this week’s fixtures.
With six games left, the Wolves remain on the cusp of qualifying for the GNAC tournament, two games behind the number four team. It will be a gauntlet just to qualify, as their final six games are against the top two teams in the conference.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
