Lewis & Clark College

TACOMA, Wash.—After losing their Northwest Conference Tournament opener, senior Maggie O'Leary posted nine strikeouts over seven shutout innings and junior Harper Campanella hit a three-run home run, to help extend Lewis & Clark College softball's season. 

THE BASICS 
 
#2 Linfield 5, #3 Lewis & Clark 2
#3 Lewis & Clark 5, #4 George Fox 0
(Lewis & Clark 27-15) 
(Linfield 36-6)
(George Fox 22-20) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The River Otters game two win kept their NWC Tournament Title hopes alive and their potential at-large bid chances as well. Lewis & Clark will now play top-seeded Pacific Lutheran University in an elimination game on Saturday at Noon. The winner of Saturday's contest will take on #2 Linfield on Sunday in the NWC Championship Series. Game One on Sunday is scheduled for 11 a.m. 
 
After giving up five runs in game one, O'Leary put together one of her best outings of the season against the Bruins. She scattered six hits (five singles) and no walks and posted a season-high nine strikeouts. 
 
Junior Harper Campanella led the River Otters offense on Friday. She posted four of the team's 11 hits and finished with two runs and three RBI. 
 
GAME ONE RECAP 
 
Both teams scored all of their runs in the third inning and Linfield ace Tyler McNeley snuffed out a pair of River Otter rallies, to send Linfield into the winner's bracket. 
 
O'Leary earned the start in game one and threw the opening three innings. She allowed seven hits, two walks and five earned runs and chipped in five strikeouts. Junior Ryan Jurischk came on in relief and scattered three hits and one walk over three scoreless innings. 
 
McNeley picked up her 20^th win of the season by allowing five hits, three walks and two runs, while striking out seven in seven innings.
 
Campanella and Patton paced the offensive attack. Campanella finished with two of the team's three hits. Patton recorded a two-run double in the top of the third to give Lewis & Clark a brief lead. Seniors McKenna Zehnder (one run) and Gina Ozuna each added a base hit. 
 
Linfield put together the first scoring chance of the game. In the bottom of the first, the Wildcats posted back-to-back singles to put two on with one out. O'Leary struck out Cydney Hess and then recorded a popup to first to keep the score 0-0. 
 
Zehnder kicked off Lewis & Clark's rally in the third. The senior doubled to left-center and senior Lacey Marglin followed with a walk to put two on with no outs. Senior Madison Scroggins moved both runners up 60 feet with a sac bunt. With two down, Patton drove a fly ball to deep right field that bounced off the top of the Wildcats right fielder's glove and down for a two-run double. 
 
Linfield answered with five runs in the third. Seven consecutive batters reached with one out with Hess and McKenna Parmelee each recording two-run doubles. The Wildcats added one final run on a wild pitch, before O'Leary retired the final two batters of her outing. 
 
Lewis & Clark had their best chance to tie the game in the sixth. Ozuna and Campanella notched back-to-back singles with one out but the River Otters were called for interference on a groundout for the second out. McNeley struck out the next batter to keep the score 5-2. 
 
Linfield nearly extended their advantage in the bottom of the inning. Lexiss Antle led off with a single and tried to race home on a one-out double, but the River Otters perfectly executed a relay throw with Marglin connecting with Patton and Patton's throw home just beating Antle trying to score. 
 
McNeley would retire Lewis & Clark in order in the seventh to seal the win. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP 
 
Campanella and Zehnder each hit home runs and O'Leary dominated the Bruins lineup, to help Lewis & Clark end the George Fox's season for a third-straight season. 
 
O'Leary improved to 18-8 and recorded her fourth shutout in her past six starts.
 
Campanella finished 2-3 with a double, a homer, two runs and three RBI. Zehnder (home run) and senior Cami Restagno (double) each finished with an extra-base hit and an RBI. 
 
Lewis & Clark grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Campanella lined a double into left-center with one out and Restagno followed with an RBI double to left-center to make it 1-0. 
 
George Fox put together their two best chances to score in the third and fourth innings. In the third, the Bruins recorded back-to-back singles with one out but O'Leary induced back-to-back flyouts to close out the inning. Corine Doran led off the top of the fourth with a double but O'Leary struck out the next three batters to keep the score 1-0. 
 
Zehnder made it 2-0 in the fifth inning when she hit a home run to straight-away center. 
 
Lewis & Clark put the game away in the sixth. Patton opened the frame with a single and junior Makena Dahir followed with a walk. Campanella made the Bruins pay, when she crushed a three-run homer to left field for a 5-0 lead. 
 
George Fox would put the leadoff runner on in the top of the seventh but Lewis & Clark turned a 4-6-3 double play to close out win. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• O'Leary set the program record for innings pitched in game one. Her first out of the second inning broke a tie with Jauna Williams ('03) for the most innings pitched by a River Otters pitcher. O'Leary has now thrown 479.1 innings across her career. She sits 16^th among all active NCAA DIII pitchers in innings pitched. 
• Campanella has hit three home runs at Pacific Lutheran's PLU Field this season and all three have been three-run homers. The junior sits tied for third in program history with her 10 home runs in a single-season. 
• O'Leary sits second in program history with five shutouts this season. She is one shy of tying Liz Coburn's record of six shutouts in the 2001 season. 
• Campanella now sits fourth in program history in career RBI (94) and fifth in home runs (20). 
• This year's team owns the program record for most shutouts in a season with nine. The 2001 and 2024 teams previously owned the program-best mark with six shutouts.  

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will take on host and top-seeded Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday at Noon in an NWC Tournament Elimination Game. It will mark softball's 12^th game this season against a a nationally-ranked team.