By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
With only six conference games to account for, Wolves softball is at the bottom of the conference standings.
A trip to California for the Tournament of Champions saw them pick up four wins and suffer two losses in non-conference games.
The first day of competition on March 31 saw Western Oregon defeat both Holy Names and UC San Diego.
Holy Names took the lead first in the opening game of the tournament, before the Wolves rallied and put up runs in each of the final three innings on their way to a 7-2 victory. Sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian earned her fifth win of the season.
Sammi Cadwallader earned her own fifth win of the season in the nightcap game, where the Wolves took a 4-1 victory over UC San Diego. Senior third base Destiny Kuehl hit a home run in the sixth inning to take the lead.
The second day was another pair of wins for Western Oregon, defeating the Academy of Art, as well as California State Dominguez Hills.
In both of the matches, Western took the lead early and never gave it up, working towards a 7-3 win over the Academy of Art and a 9-4 victory over California State.
Junior pitcher Lizzet Dominguez won the first game of the day, her first starting win of the year. Fabian pitched again in the California State game, to advance to a 6-6 record as starter.
The third day of competition saw the tournament end on a sour note for the Wolves, as they dropped their games against San Francisco State and Sonoma State. With the losses, the Wolves slid to 14-13 overall on the season.
They remain only 1-6 in conference play, and now enter a month of conference play for their chance to climb the conference ladder.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
