2/27/10 - Royals Have Rough Finish to Oregon Trip

By Tim Gooszen

Medford, OR- After starting the trip 4-0, Hope International lost both of their games on Saturday to close out their trip to Oregon.  Simpson knocked them off 2-0 in the first game while Oregon Tech produced two big innings to defeat the Royals 10-1.  Freshman Kayla Uphold was 3-3 with the Royals’ lone run of the day in the second game.

The first game was 0-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning when the Redhawks used two singles and one big error by the Royals to push across the only two runs of the game.

Uphold suffered her first loss of the season with her record now 5-1.

Complete stats are currently not for available for the first game.

The second game started out well for Hope International as Uphold singled up the middle, stole second, and moved up to third on a fly out to right by Freshman Danielle Thomson.  Junior Caitlin Angel grounded back to the pitcher but Uphold was able to scoot home to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Owls then got a chance to bat and bat they did.  Two singles, a walk and sacrifice loaded the bases for Jess Plummer who quickly unloaded them with one swing of the bat as her grand slam gave Owls a 4-1 lead.

OIT was far from done as a solo homerun and bases clearing triple were part of six run outburst in the fourth inning.

With the Royals unable to push across a run in the top of the fifth, the mercy rule was put into effect and the game was called.

Sophomore Alexis Alonzo was tagged with the loss and falls to 1-3 on the year.

The two losses dropped the Royals’ record for the season to 6-4.  They now return home to open Golden State Athletic Conference play as they meet up with #1 California Baptist on Tuesday.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 pm at Craig Park.

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