Lund Earns 4 Hits in 7 At Bats versus George Fox, as Bruins Defeat Bearcats

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Mia Lund (Fy., CF, Omaha, NE/Westside HS) of Willamette University went 4 for 7 at the plate and hit her first collegiate home run during the Bearcats' doubleheader against George Fox Univerisity on Saturday, April 18. The Bruins won both games, earning a 5-1 win in the opener and slipping past the Bearcats 6-4 in nine innings in the second game. George Fox upped its record to 21-7 overall, 17-3 in the Northwest Conference. Willamette fell to 3-23 on the season, 2-18 in the NWC.

George Fox, which is tied with Linfield University for first place in the NWC standings, defeated Willamette in all four games. Even so, the Bruins won three of the games by a single run or in extra innings. Lund hit .467 for the Bearcats during the series (7 of 15), including her homer and three doubles.

The second game started well for George Fox, as the Bruins tallied four runs in the first inning. Katie Ladd hit an RBI single to bring in the initial run while advancing another runner to third. Victoria Richter walked to load the bases. Jennifer McCue batted next and hit a 3-run double to left field.

Willamette gradually rallied to force extra innings.

The Bearcats cut the margin to 4-1 in the bottom of the first. Lund produced an infield single, stole second, and went to third on a two-out single by Shaye Mott (So., P/1B, Livermore, CA/Granada HS). Kelsey Wong (Jr., UT, Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) hit into a fielder's choice, with Lund scoring from third before Mott was forced out at second.

Kendra Knapp (So., OF, Portland, OR/Sunset HS) walked as the first Willamette batter in the second inning. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Marykate DeLuca (So., C, San Diego, CA/San Diego International Studies), and scored on a single by Cassie Cosler (Jr., 1B, Albany, OR/West Albany HS), as the Bearcats moved within 4-2.

The score remained the same until the fifth inning, when Willamette plated its third run on Lund's solo homer to left center to open the stanza. The Bearcats threatened to have a big inning in the sixth, as WU had the bases loaded with two outs. A single by Sophia Lucio (Fy., OF, Martinez, CA/College Park HS) drove in Adele Benny (So., OF, Bee Cave, TX/Lake Travis HS) to tie the score at 4-4. Brianna Majors (So., SS/2B, San Diego, CA/Cathedral Catholic HS) hit a line drive that was caught by the second baseman to end the inning.

Neither team scored in the seventh inning or the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, Kamryn Potter of George Fox hit a leadoff single to right field and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Cortney Hunt. Claire Foutain batted next for the Bruins. She belted a 2-run homer down the left field line. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Bruins, but a strikeout and a foul out completed the inning.

Lucio reached first base on a fielding error by the shortstop with one out in the bottom of the ninth. GFU pitcher Ashley Davis forced the Bearcats into a foul out and a strikeout to end the game.

Davis improved to 12-3 with her second win of the day. Sarah Smith (So., P, Poulsbo, WA/North Kitsap HS), who pitched 8 1/3 innings for Willamette, fell to 0-1 on the season. Lund was 3 of 4 at the plate with a homer, two runs scored, and an RBI for the Bearcats, while Cosler finished 3 of 4 with an RBI. Fountain was 3 of 5 with a homer, a run scored, and two RBIs for George Fox. Ladd and Savannah Vargas each earned two hits for the Bruins. Both teams recorded 11 hits.

One run in the first inning and two runs in the third boosted GFU out to a 3-0 lead in the first game. Vargas drove in Olivia Nelson with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the third stanza, Fountain connected on 2-run homer.

WU pulled within 2-1 on an RBI single by Mott in the fourth inning. Lucio, who began the frame with an infield single toward third base, scored on Mott's hit through the right side. The Bruins pushed across the game's final two runs in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Varga walked and Fountain singled. Ladd drove in both runners with a double to left center.

The Bearcats outhit the Bruins, 6-5, in the first game, as six players recorded one hit apiece for WU. Fountain was 2 of 4 for GFU with a home run, two runs, and two RBIs. Davis picked up a complete-game win for the Bruins with six strikeouts and no walks. Mott was credited with the loss for the Bearcats. She struck out four batters and gave up two walks.

Willamette will take on Linfield in McMinnville, Oregon, on Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24. The Bearcats and the Wildcats will play a doubleheader each day, with the action starting at 4 p.m. (PDT) on Friday and at 12 p.m. on Saturday.