Of late, one recent trend plaguing The Dalles softball team is leaving runners on base.
If the hits come in a timely manner, maybe they are sitting at the top of the Columbia River Conference instead of the cellar.
Tuesday, in their series finale on the road versus No. 2 Pendleton, the Tribe rattled off seven hits and received three walks, but left eight runners, seven in scoring position, on base in taking a 3-0 shutout loss to starting pitcher Hailey Kline and the Buckaroos.
On two occasions, the first and seventh innings, TD stranded runners at second and third base.
In the top of the fourth, the Tribe loaded the bases with one out, but could not advance the runners.
Added to that, in the fifth frame, Ruthie Ford was on first base for Morgan Goslin.
The Tribe catcher roped a line shot down the right field line, but Pendleton fielder Reeghan Lehnert took away extra bases with a diving catch to erase any rally thoughts.
“We get a base hit in couple of those situations and we have the lead against them and maybe a win,” said Tribe coach Steve Garrett. “We could not get those timely hits that we needed.”
Pendleton scored one unearned run against TD starter Maddy Bradford in the second inning, but could not sustain many rallies against the sophomore right hander.
In four innings, Bradford held the Lady Bucks without a hit, as she fanned one, walked one and plunked three batters.
With Morgan Triperinas in the circle to start the fifth inning, Pendleton added two insurance runs to the scoreboard on RBI hits by Evangelina Olivera and Alexis Morrison to make it 3-0.
Kline fanned 10 and walked three in her complete-game performance to get the win in the circle.
Offensively, most of the damage was done by the first four hitters.
Hannah Harris went 2 for 3 with a walk, and Ford added two hits in her four at-bats.
Bradford, Triperinas and No. 9 hitter Lori Cimmiyotti tacked on a hit each.
Facing a situation that has the Eagle Indians needing a lengthy winning streak to get back in the playoff picture, Garrett is hoping this group can find its stride and get healthy for a solid push.
“I still have hope,” the coach said. “We have six games left to put this all together and stay in the running, so I think we can do it.”
The Dalles (7-12 overall, 1-5 league) has its work cut out in another league series against a top-5 school.
At noon Saturday, the Eagle Indians travel to Hood River to take on the No. 4 Eagles (14-5, 4-2).
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