By John Lind, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

CLACKAMAS, ORE. -- The Willamette University softball team was in action during the Northwest Cup on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Hood View Park. The Bearcats, who compete in NCAA Division III, dropped games to NAIA teams from the College of Idaho and crosstown rival Corban University. College of Idaho defeated the Bearcats, 3-0, while Corban won 14-3 on the run rule in five innings.

The Bearcats fell to 0-2 to begin their season. Both Corban and College of Idaho started their seasons earlier, and improved to 5-2 and 6-3, respectively.

Willamette was held to one hit in the first game against College of Idaho, and the Bearcats gave up five hits to the Lady Yotes during the loss. College of Idaho was greatly aided by the play of their starting pitcher, Nickayla Skinner, who pitched all seven innings with nine strikeouts and only one walk.

The Lady Yotes took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double from Paige Gabriola and a sacrifice fly by Briana Brace. College of Idaho tacked on another run in the third on a leadoff homer by Molly Mills.

The Bearcats held the Lady Yotes to zero runs after the third inning, but were unable to close the gap with offense of their own. Willamette got impressive efforts in relief pitching from freshmen Victoria Bradshaw (Fr., P,Discovery Bay, CA/Liberty HS) and Erin Bueser (Fr., P,Mill Creek, WA/Henry M. Jackson HS). Bradshaw pitched two innings with a strikeout and no hits, and Bueser pitched one inning with a strikeout and no hits.

Willamette's lone hit was a seventh-inning single by Jenna King (So., OF,Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo HS).

In the second game, the Bearcats totaled five hits, but were outdone by Corban, which accumulated 14 hits to secure the win. The Warriors scored a run in each of the first three innings and added a breakout nine-run fifth inning to effectively end the game by the 8-run rule.

Willamette got on the scoreboard in the first inning when King scored on a sacrifice fly from Courtney Galli (Sr., 1B,Rocklin, CA/Whitney HS). The Bearcats were able to load the bases with potential for more runs, but the inning ended on a line out to third base.

Willamette's other two runs came in the third inning. With the Bearcats down 3-1, Corban's pitcher walked the first two batters of the inning, Kelli Snyder (Sr., C,Longview, WA/Kelso HS) and Galli. Snyder then stole third base and was then driven home on a fielder's choice by Hope Kloczko (Sr., C,Cameron Park, CA/Oak Ridge HS).

Angela Witty (Fr., UTL,Eugene, OR/Henry D. Sheldon HS) then pinch-ran for Kloczko and advanced to third base off a single from Ashley Pender (Fr., INF,Reno, NV/North Valleys HS). Following Pender's at bat, Yvonne Drabin (Sr., OF,Fremont, CA/Moreau Catholic HS) drove in Witty on an RBI groundout to second, tying the game at 3-3.

The Warriors answered with two runs in the fourth and the additional nine-run fifth.

Bradshaw performed well in the loss, giving up only three runs on five hits while striking out two in three innings of work.

The Bearcats continue Northwest Cup action Sunday, Feb. 17, with games against Oregon Tech at 1 p.m. (PST) and Concordia University at 3 p.m.