MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Oregon and Western Washington split a Saturday doubleheader after the Vikings took the opener 7-4 before a walk-off double by freshman Ryanne Huffman allowed the host Wolves to win 5-4 at the WOU Softball Field.
 
The GNAC split moved WOU to 17-18 on the season and 7-7 in league play.
 
GAME ONE – Western Washington 7, Western Oregon 4
The Vikings had seven of their 13 hits for the game with two outs, leading to rallies in a 7-4 win over WOU.
 
WWU took a 3-0 lead after two frames, but the Wolves countered to tie the game through three complete innings. Elaine Sperry flared a RBI single in the Wolves' second frame and Zoe Clark lined a two-run double down the left field line.
 
After the Vikings retook the lead with two runs in the fifth, Lexi Jennings brought the Wolves within a run with a run-scoring sacrifice fly plating Destiny Kuehl. WWU put the game out of reach with two insurance runs in their half of the seventh inning.
 
Alyson Boytz (7-5) took the loss allowing seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits with four strikeouts.
 
Clark had the only multi-hit game for WOU in the opener, going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. Kyla Patterson finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI for WWU.
 
GAME TWO – Western Oregon 5, Western Washington 4
Western Oregon rebounded from the earlier loss Saturday by overcoming early miscues and producing late-game heroics to earn the doubleheader split with a 5-4 win.
 
Junior starting pitcher Sammi Cadwallader improved to 5-2 on the season recording a complete-game effort of four runs allowed, only one of which was earned, on six hits with six strikeouts.
 
Both teams plated runs in the first inning. WOU notched their tally with a two-out single from Clark, plating a returning Kelsie Gardner.
 
The top half of the second inning turned nightmarish as the Wolves committed four errors behind Cadwallader. Damage was limited to a pair of runs after Cadwallader induced groundball force play at home and struck out the final batter looking.
 
Western Oregon began the comeback with a single run in the third inning. Gardner led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and tagged up on Clark's sacrifice fly.
 
Ashlee Lynch homered in the fourth inning and a RBI single from Lexi Jennings in the fifth tied the game at 4-4.
 
From there, Cadwallader and her WWU counterpart, Shearyna Labasan, mowed through batters to send the game to an extra frame.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, the Wolves put runners on first and second with two outs. Huffman, who singled in the fourth inning, got a few encouraging word from manager Lonny Sargent before stepping into the box. With the count 2-2, Huffman lined a ball to the gap in right-center allowing Jennings to come home to cap the victory in walk-off style.
 
Western Oregon continues weekend action with a GNAC doubleheader against Simon Fraser on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m.