FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Whitworth University knocked off Pacific University 7-4 in the second game of Saturday's Northwest Conference softball doubleheader on the second-to-last day of the season, setting the stage for head coach Fuzzy Buckenberger to lead the Pirates for one final day on Sunday. Buckenberger announced his retirement, effective at the end of this season, in September. Whitworth (15-20 overall, 12-11 NWC) fell to Pacific (28-6, 17-5) 5-0 in the opener.

Buckenberger will coach his final games Sunday

Pacific 5, Whitworth 0 - Box Score

Miranda McNealy, the 2007 Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Year, shows no signs of suffering a sophomore jinx as she shut out the Pirates on one hit in Saturday's opener.

Whitworth loaded the bases in the second inning on a pair of walks and an error, but could not score as McNealy induced Jessie LaPlante to ground out to third base. In the bottom of the second the Boxers rallied for three of their five runs against La Plante.

Rachel Anderson singled in the fourth inning for the Pirates' only hit against McNealy, who improved to 16-2 after walking six and striking out six in her complete-game effort.

LaPlante (7-13) went the distance for Whitworth, allowing five runs (only two earned) on nine hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

Whitworth 7, Pacific 4 - Box Score

Ayers earned the win in the circle for the Bucs

Whitworth rallied behind the solid pitching of Kelsey Ayers and the timely hits of Josie Ball to defeat the Boxers.

Ball gave the Bucs a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when her ground out drove home the first run. Caitlin Mastenbroek's two-run homer keyed a three-run Pacific rally in the third inning, giving the Boxers a 3-1 lead.

But Whitworth rallied in the top of the fourth for three runs of their own. Amber Fowler singled home Mandee Edwards, who had tripled with two outs. Halley Cey singled home another run and Anderson, who was pinch running, scored on a wild pitch.

The Pirates tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh inning, all on Ball's bases-loaded triple.

Ayers finally tired in the bottom of the seventh, walking the bases loaded. Jessica Mangis came in and got the final two batters out, one of whom drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to score the final Pacific run.

Ayers went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on only three hits, to improve to 3-3. She struck out seven and walked four. Mangis earned her first save of the season.

Ball led the Pirates with four runs batted in, while Cey finished 3 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored.

Buckenberger heads into tomorrow's doubleheader with a 71-40 record in his three seasons as coach of the Pirates. In 2006 he led Whitworth to a 26-14 record, a second place finish in the NWC and the school's first ever NCAA tournament bid. In 2007 he coached the Pirates to a 30-6 record, including a 25-3 mark in the NWC. Whitworth finished only one game behind eventual national champion Linfield College in the NWC standings, but those sterling numbers were not enough to get the Pirates an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs.

Sunday's doubleheader begins at Noon.