SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University softball team will finally get to play at home on Wednesday, March 24 after 18 consecutive road games to start the season. Willamette will open its home schedule by hosting Oregon Institute of Technology in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. (PDT) at the WU Softball Field.
Willamette hasn't led the travel prevent the Bearcats from achieving success on the diamond. The Bearcats enter Wednesday's pair of games with a 14-4 overall record. Willamette is ranked #18 in the NFCA Poll for NCAA Division III. WU is 7-1 in the Northwest Conference.
The match-up with Oregon Tech is a non-conference doubleheader for the Bearcats, Oregon Tech, which competes in the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference, is 15-13 on the season.
Leading the Bearcats on offense is sophomore shortstop Mica Romero (Woodland, CA/Woodland Christian HS). Romero is batting .442 on the season with a team-high nine doubles. She also ranks first on the team with 20 RBIs and is tied for first with 14 runs scored.
Bri Compton (Jr., RHP, Kalispell, MT/Wenatchee CC) is 7-0 as a pitcher for the Bearcats this spring. She has struck out 33 batters in 54 2/3 innings in the circle. She has held opponents to a .270 batting average and has thrown four complete games. Compton also is hitting .389 on offense and trails only Romero on the WU batting chart.
WU will return to the road and NWC action on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 with a four-game series against Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore. The teams will play a doubleheader each day, starting at 12 p.m. (PDT).
Mica Romero ranks first on the Bearcat roster with a .442 batting average.
