LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Bushnell softball team scored five runs in the first inning on Friday and ended the day with a road split against Cascade Collegiate Conference foe Eastern Oregon University. The Beacons won 7-6 before falling 4-1 in the second contest.
 
Head Coach Katie Duroe said, "The team did a great job in game one today. Our hitters jumped on the pitching early and we had really quality at-bats. We were aggressive on the base path and took advantage of EOU's field.
 
GAME ONE: Bushnell 7, Eastern Oregon 6
 
Bushnell had a productive first inning, capped off by a two-RBI since by Alyssa Ferreira as the team batted around and took a 5-0 lead.
 
Eastern crawled back with three runs in the third and one in the fourth but the Beacons added another run in the fifth on a Jordan Kuykendall single to go up 6-4. The visitors then added a much-needed insurance run in the top of the seventh as the Mounties posted two of their own in the bottom of the frame.
 
Ferreira and Kuykenall ended the game with two hits apiece and Noel Balderston went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Miranda Jensen went the distance in the circle, allowing five earned runs and striking out three batters.
 
For EOU, Ashton Kazmierski took the loss as she was unable to get out of the first inning, Amanda Smith finished with 6.1 strong innings, allowing just one earned run. Madison Stateler went 4-for-4 while Makenzie Chambers went 3-for-4 at the plate.
 
GAME TWO: Eastern Oregon 4, Bushnell 1
 
Balderston hit a game-tying solo home run in the fourth inning, but EOU scored three in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the split.
 
Kayla Berg got the win for the Mounties, striking out three and allowing just four hits.
 
Jensen threw all six innings for Bushnell, giving her 13 on the day, allowing seven hits in the loss. "For Miranda to be able to pitch back-to-back complete games is huge," said Duroe. "Unfortunately, we beat ourselves with physical and mental errors in the second game"
 
Alexa Berry led the Beacons with two hits while Berg and Alaina Wright each had two for the home team.
 
Bushnell and Eastern Oregon will play two more games on Saturday, beginning with a CCC game at 11:00 am, followed by a non-conference contest at 1:00 pm.