Majors Hits Single, Double, and 3-Run Homer as Bearcats Defeat L&C, 11-7
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Brianna Majors (Sr., SS/2B, San Diego, CA/Cathedral Catholic HS) hit for three-fourths of the cycle to lead Willamette University to an 11-7 victory over Lewis & Clark College in the final game of a four-game Northwest Conference series on Sunday, April 16. Majors blasted a three-run homer in the first inning, earned a double and scored in the third inning, and singled in the fourth inning. The Pioneers won the first game of the doubleheader 11-8.
The Bearcats claimed the series 3-1. WU prevailed in the first two games 5-4 and 3-2 on Saturday. Willamette concluded its season with a 16-22 record, while L&C ended its schedule at 19-19. Both teams went 11-17 in the NWC and tied for fifth place.
Kenna Davis (So., 3B/SS/P, Alameda, CA/Alameda HS) earned her second complete-game win of the weekend in Sunday's 11-7 win. She gave up eight hits and seven runs -- five earned -- with three strikeouts and two walks. In Saturday's 3-2 victory, she tossed a four-hitter with three strikeouts and no walks.
Majors was 3 for 5 with two runs and three RBIs in Sunday's win. She was 4 for 8 in the doubleheader. Emma Elliott (Fy., OF, Battle Ground, WA/Battle Ground HS) of WU was 3 for 3 with two doubles and a homer in the first game. Elliott was 5 for 8 on the day.
The doubleheader started at about 1:30 p.m. due to the weather, and the first game lasted two hours and 40 minutes. The second game started at 5:30 p.m. and ended two hours and 24 minutes later at 7:54. The teams earned 37 runs and 46 hits.
Elliott Stands Out for Bearcats in First Game
The Bearcats were led by Elliott's 3 for 3 performance in the first game. Lewis & Clark won 11-8, but Elliott's three extra-base hits helped her score three runs and earn two RBIs.
Elliott smacked a double to left center as the first batter in the first inning. She went to third on a bunt single by Faith Collar (So., P/UT, Portland, OR/Roosevelt HS) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Majors. The Pioneers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on a double by Riley Anderson. WU erased L&C's 2-1 lead by plating three runs in the third stanza, starting with a leadoff homer by Elliott. Marykate DeLuca (Sr., C, San Diego, CA/San Diego International Studies) added a two run homer to center field.
Two runs by the Pioneers in the bottom of the third tied the score at 4-4, but Willamette regained the lead at 5-4 in the fourth inning when Mia Lund (Jr., UT, Omaha, NE/Westside HS) scored on a sacrifice fly by Elliott. Lewis & Clark earned five runs in its half of the fourth inning, as the Pioneers took a 9-5 lead. Kalea Kaui drove in two runs with a double to left. WU plated two runs in the fifth to move within 9-7, but the Bearcats never got closer.
Collar, DeLuca and Lund each earned two hits for Willamette. The Bearcats connected for five doubles, with two by Elliott and one each from Majors, Lund, and Kendra Knapp (Jr., RF, Portland, OR/Sunset HS). Sam Gildersleeve of L&C was 3 of 4 with three runs and a solo homer in the sixth.
WU Scores 11 Runs on 12 Hits in Second Game
Led by Majors, with her single, double, and home run, the Bearcats won the second game, 11-7, while accumulating 12 hits for the second game in a row. Lund also hit a homer, while Collar belted a double and a triple. Elliott, Collar, and DeLuca each recorded two hits.
Majors' three-run homer as the fourth batter in the game provided the Bearcats with plenty of momentum. After Majors scored in the third inning, Willamette held a 4-0 lead. Emily Patton belted an RBI double for L&C in the bottom of the third. Willamette responded with five runs in the fourth inning for a 9-1 margin. The big hit of the inning was a triple by Collar down the right field line. Lewis & Clark scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth and two runs in the fifth to pull as close as 9-5.
Willamette tacked on two runs in the sixth inning. Both runs crossed the plate on Lund's home run. Back-to-back doubles by Kaui and Anderson with two outs in the seventh inning cut WU's lead to 11-7, but Davis closed out her complete-game win by forcing Pippi Jepsen into a pop-up. Davis evened her record at 7-7, while Alyssa Abe of L&C fell to 5-5. Anderson was 3 of 4 for the Pioneers with a two-run homer in the fifth.