>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

CAMPED OUT: EOU first baseman Megan Platz waits to make a catch during Game 1 Friday. - The Observer/BRUCE MASON

Normally, this is played with a deck of cards. Eight are dealt to each player, and the object is to discard yours quicker than everyone else.

It’s a fun game.

And apparently EOU is trying to create another version on the softball diamond.

Crazy Eights was in full effect Friday at Peggy Anderson Field, as two teams, instead, treated bats like cards and runs like points.

An 8-0 EOU opening victory.

An 8-0 Corban response.

Yep. A Crazy Eight split in this softball doubleheader.

In the opener, EOU went on a run — just like the card game — scoring five runs in the fourth inning, cruising to victory.

Mountaineer third baseman Lydia Holm (2-for-2, walk) drove in three runs, and pitcher Melodee Mildenberger (5 innings, three hits) tantalized Warriors batters, dominating on the mound.

Then came the second game.

And it was the Warriors’ turn to change suit.

Corban pitcher Erin Sailors trumped Mildenberger, yielding one hit through six innings, rolling to victory.

EOU froze on the change up and bit on her rising pitch, leading to yet another see-saw struggle with the standings.

“I don’t want to be .500 all year long,” EOU coach Missy Wheeler informed her Mountaineers, who huddled around their head coach in the left field grass, just minutes after dropping to 3-4. “We’re better than that.”

Holm agreed.

“I think it’s true what coach says. We need to approach the second one the same way we approach the first one.”

In that first one, Mildenberger kept Corban hitters off balanced, utilizing her drop-curve pitch with near perfection. Meanwhile, EOU batters made the necessary adjustments at the plate, breaking a scoreless tie with two runs in the third, then bursting the dam wide open with that five-run fourth.

Megan Platz, Michelle St. John and Mildenberger each drove in runs, sending EOU to 3-3.

But then ...

“The second game,” Holm said, “The pitcher had a lot more movement. She was a little bit faster.

“She was a great pitcher.”

That would be Sailors.

She struck out the side in the opening inning, setting the tone en route to 13 fanned victims in the sequel. And, in the fifth inning, she got her needed help at the plate, when Karlee Sisler cleared the bases with a three-run homer, turning a close affair into yet another Crazy Eight rout. 

Crystal Weseman had the lone EOU hit, and Kelly West (4 1/3 innings, three strikeouts) earned the loss on the mound.

Now these Mountaineers will attempt to break this split-personality pattern — win-loss, win-loss — at 11 a.m. today in its doubleheader versus visiting Concordia College.

“We’re a good hitting team,” Wheeler said. “We just need to make the adjustments.”

Game 1

Corban College     000 000     —  0 3 2

Eastern Oregon    002 51x     —  8 7 0

 W: Mildenberger. L: Sisler. 2B — EOU:  St.John, Weseman.

Game 2

Corban College      001 232 — 8 9 0

Eastern Oregon     000 000 — 0 1 3

 W: Sailors. L: West. 2B— CC: Gaylord, Jones, Kollaer. HR—EOU: Sisler.