EUGENE, Ore. – Freshmen pitchers Kalyssa Koontz and Brooke Davis combined to allow just one run on six hits over two games on Friday afternoon, helping give the Beacons a split in a Cascade Conference double-header with Corban College. The Warriors took game one 1-0, but NCU came back with a 3-0 win in the second game.

Davis took the hill for Northwest Christian in game one, and allowed the games' only run to come in during the top of the first inning. Jessie Jones led off the game with a single up the middle and after stealing second base, Rebecca Franke smacked an RBI double to deep right field for what would amount to the game winner. Davis quickly settled down from there, not allowing another hit over the final six innings.

Unfortunately for the Beacons, the offense couldn't put anything together and, despite out-hitting Corban 4-2, couldn't pull out the win. NCU was not without their chances, though. In the third inning Jonni Byrne hit a one-out double and soon moved to third on a passed ball. Then, with two outs, Byrne attempted to come home on another passed ball, but was tagged out at the plate to end the inning. The bottom of the sixth inning also ended with a play at the plate. Jenn West was at third and attempted to tag up on a fly out to left field, but was beat by the ball diving into home.

Davis (4-6) finished with nine strikeouts over seven innings, allowing just one run on two hits. Despite her best efforts, the freshman has now lost four straight.

Game two was another strong outing for the NCU pitching corps. Koontz (3-4) got the start and went five scoreless innings, striking out one batter while allowing just four hits. Davis came in and pitched the final two innings and picked up her second save of the season. She didn't allow a hit and struck out four of the six batters she faced including striking out the side to end the game in the seventh inning. Combined, Davis went eight consecutive hitless innings for the Beacons.

The offense indeed fulfilled their end of the bargain in game two, coming up with three runs. In the bottom of the second inning, Davis scored on an RBI single by Amber Kraaz for a 1-0 lead. Then, in the fourth, NCU got two more runs on a two-out bases-loaded pinch-hit double by Cotie Howard (left). Howard came off the bench for her first at-bat since February 14th, coming back from a broken hand to make an immediate impact.

After the game, Head Coach Tim Hood said, “The pitching was outstanding today. Brooke was awesome and Kalyssa really came to pitch today, better than she has for the past few weeks. She relaxed and she threw hard and did a good job for us. Our defense once again played solid and kept us in the game. If we had just gotten that key hit when we needed it, we would have taken two today.”

Kraaz finished the game batting 2-for-3, as the only hitter for either team to record multiple hits on the day. Brittany Robles went 1-for-3 in each game, extending her career-best hitting streak to nine games.

The Beacons (9-10, 2-8 CCC) will be back in action on Saturday, playing host to Concordia University for a CCC double-header. Game one is scheduled for an 11:00 am start time.