SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University center fielder Halley Cey hit a home run in her first at bat on Sunday and also in her last at bat, leading the Pirates to a pair of victories over visiting Lewis & Clark College in a Northwest Conference softball doubleheader. Whitworth (13-16 overall, 10-7 NWC) earned a sweep in the four game series with the Pioneers (2-29, 2-22)

Cey hit a pair of home runs on Sunday

Whitworth 9, L&C 0 (5 innings) - Box Score

Cey led off the game for the Pirates with a home run, Lacey Parry hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to end it and Jessie LaPlante tossed a shutout from the circle.

Cey gave the Bucs a 1-0 lead when she led off the bottom of the first with a drive over the left-center field wall. Rachel Anderson added a two-run double later in the inning and Amber Fowler followed with a run-scoring single up the middle.

Lacey Kerr and Josie Ball had RBI singles in the second inning to give Whitworth a 6-0 lead.

Whitworth added three more in the bottom of the fifth after a walk and hit batter put runners on first and second. With one out Perry lined a ball over the left field wall for her fifth home run of the season and officially ended the game on the NCAA DIII eight-run rule.

LaPlante (7-9) allowed six base hits and no walks in her five innings pitched. She struck out four and worked out of trouble in both the top of the first and especially in the third when L&C had the bases loaded an one out. Kelly Vega pitched well in relief of Pioneer starter Nathalie Matson (1-16), giving up three runs on two hits in 3.0 innings.

Parry and Ball had two hits apiece for the Pirates, while Sheree Miura had a pair of hits for the Pioneers.

Whitworth 2, L&C 1 - Box Score

Ayers pitched a complete game victory

Whitworth rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to complete the series sweep and Kelsey Ayers pitched a complete game for her second victory of the season.

L&C took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when a pair of Pirate errors allowed Jessica Mullins to score an unearned run.

Then the Pioneers kept the lead until the bottom of the sixth behind the strong pitching of Vega, a sophomore in her first season of competitive softball since junior high school. Vega did not allow the Pirates a hit through the first five innings.

But Cey led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to center field that bounced on top of the wall before going over. Her third home run of the season tied the game. Following two outs, a walk and single put runners on first and second for Sara Rylaarsdam, who singled through the left side of the infield, driving in Morgan Thomsen with the winning run.

Ayers allowed only three hits and the one unearned run. She struck out three and walked two, improving to 2-3 and added to her weekend tally after picking up a save on Saturday. Vega was the hard-luck losing pitcher, allowing two runs on only three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Whitworth recognized five seniors - Cey, Fowler, LaPlante, Perry and Thomsen - prior to today's games. The group was playing their final home games in a Pirate uniform.

Whitworth will hit the road next weekend for a four-game series at Willamette University on April 19-20.