CALDWELL, Idaho – It didn't take long for Lady Argo softball to win its first conference game as a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, in fact, the team reached the milestone in its first attempt. UGF defeated Eastern Oregon University 7-2 in the front end of their doubleheader against the Mountaineers. They lost the second game 13-12 on a walk-off single in the ninth inning. 

Senior pitcher Keeley Van Blaricom pitched seven solid innings in game one, holding the Mountaineers to two earned runs in the game and picking up her third win of the season.

Van Blaricom was supported by an active Lady Argo offense, led by senior Chloe Cross. UGF's leadoff hitter started the game with a double to right field and two batters later scored the team's first run off of a single from Mindy Larson. In the second inning, Cross reached base on an EOU fielding error which brought in the team's second run of the game.

UGF too a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth, and once again Cross was involved. Her sacrifice fly to center field brought in junior Morgan Robinson who was pinch running after a Hali Gruntowicz double.

After four innings of jabs, the Lady Argos delivered a haymaker in the top of the fifth with a four run, five hit effort that brought the score to 7-0. Cross and senior Regan Rucks each drove in a run but the biggest damage came from a two RBI double off the bat of junior Jocelyn Kaufman.

The Beacon bats started to get the hang of Van Blaricom's pitching in the bottom of the sixth, and while the two runs weren't nearly enough for a late game comeback it did foreshadow the outcome of game two.

It was junior Shelby Abeyta, not Van Blaricom, who started game two and after the first inning, her and the Lady Argos were in good shape. UGF scored six runs in the top of the inning, playing small ball and taking advantage of EOU mistakes. Of the team's six runs, only three were earned but the three unearned still came off of a three RBI double to left center by Kaufman.

During the next few innings, the Mountaineers slowly chipped away at the lead, entering the sixth down by just one run. The Lady Argos, however, seemed to put the game away with another sixth run rally in the top of the sixth. That seven run lead wasn't safe though, as Easter Oregon concocted a rally of their own. The Mountaineers scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score a 12. 

Neither team could break the deadlock in the seventh, and the eighth inning also went scoreless. It wasn't until the bottom of the ninth that EOU knocked in the winning run with a single to center field.

The doubleheader split brings UGF's record to 7-5 (1-1). They will look to earn their second and third wins as CCC members against (RV) College of Idaho on Saturday, March 12 at 11:00 a.m. in Caldwell, Idaho.