by Brandon Loiler, Sports Information Assistant

SPOKANE, Wash. - With a 7-0 win over Pacific Lutheran in game four of the 2017 Northwest Conference Softball Tournament, the Pirates advance to play the winner of Pacific Lutheran and George Fox. With Whitworth staying undefeated in the conference tournament, the winner of that game has to beat the Pirates twice on Sunday in order to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Game six will begin at noon on Sunday, April 23. Check the online Whitworth softball schedule for live stats and video.

Whitworth (34-8) drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three runs on a sac fly from Tessa Matthews and a pair of back-to-back RBI hits from Rheanne Lewis and Logan Miller.  

A single sandwiched between two walks loaded the bases for Madi Perez. Perez stepped up and drove in two, expanding the Pirates cushion to five with a single. 

With runners on second and third to start the bottom of the fifth inning, Ramirez drove in a run on a single up the middle, stretching Whitworth's lead to six and Wessel hit a single on the next at bat for the final run of the game.

Despite two runners on and two errors in the top of the seventh, the Pirates caught a pair of back-to-back infield fly balls from Lute batters to seal the game and advance to championship Sunday. 

Perez went 1-4 with a two RBIs and a double to lead the Whitworth offense. Shannon Wessel went 2-3 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs. Nichole Schroeder went 2-3 for PLU. 

Perez picked up her 10th shutout win of the season, improving to 22-3 with a four-hit complete game against Pacific Lutheran (12-15). Marissa Miller drops to 9-9 after giving up 11 hits, five walks, and seven runs with only one strikeout in five innings for the Lutes.