Lady Saints Earn 30th Win

The Seward County Lady Saints wrapped up a six game homestand in style Saturday afternoon at Lady Saints Field in Liberal, coming from behind to beat Dodge City 2-1 in game one of their double header before putting it on the Lady Conqs 11-3 in a run rule win in game two to sweep the twinbill and move to 30-7 overall on the year.

Seward fell behind right away in the first game of the day as Dodge City put together a two out rally in the 1st to scratch out a run to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Lady Conqs threatened again in the 2nd inning, putting two on with two out, but Seward starter Brittany Hopkins kept Dodge from extending upon their lead and kept the game 1-0 by getting a groundout to end the inning.

Seward went down in order in the bottom of the inning and Dodge was back at it in the top half of the 3rd as they once again put two runners in scoring position with two outs, but once again Hopkins was able to work out of the jam, this time with a strikeout to keep Seward just a run behind, 1-0.

The Lady Saints got a little something working in their half of the 3rd as Andrea Sitter singled and stole second and Pokey Ewell walked with two outs, but the middle of the Seward order couldn’t get the job done and the Lady Saints remained behind 1-0.

The game sailed through 4 with the score still 1-0 in favor of the Lady Conqs and Hopkins kept the score right there with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 5th.

Seward finally broke through in the bottom half of the 5th inning as they manufactured a run with a single from Vanessa Oakden, a sacrifice bunt from Felisha Vogelaar and a two out single from Sitter to score Oakden from second to tie the game at 1.

Dodge City attempted to do the same in the 6th as they got a leadoff single and bunted the runner to second, but Hopkins got a strikeout and a first pitch groundout to end the threat and keep the game tied 1-1.

Becky Allen singled with one out for the Lady Saints in the 6th and two batters later Tiffanie Bolanos hit a shot to the wall in left center to bring her all the way around from first to score to put Seward in front for the first time in the game 2-1.

Dodge City put the tying run on the bases with a one out single in the top of the 7th, but later in the inning Oakden gunned down the runner at second trying to steal to kill the Lady Conqs chances and Hopkins got another groundball out to finish things off to give the Lady Saints a 2-1 win.

The Lady Conqs actually outhit Seward 7-6 in the Lady Saints victory but it was the two two out hits for Seward that sealed the deal. Sitter and Allen each had 2 hits for the Lady Saints in the win while Hopkins earned a much deserved win, going the distance and allowing just 1 run on 7 hits while striking out 2.

SEWARD COUNTY/DODGE CITY GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2013-14/files/SewardDodge1.pdf>

It was Seward jumping out to the early lead in game two of the double header as two Dodge City errors and a pair of two out Lady Saint hits gave Seward a 3-0 advantage after 2.

Dodge City struck right back however as they used four 3rd inning singles and a Seward error to score three times to quickly knot the game back up at 3.

The Lady Saints stayed on the ball offensively in the bottom half of the inning getting singles from Danielle Orr and Bolanos to set the table and Seward went back in front on an RBI groundout from Marissa Chavez and then took a two run lead later in the inning on a two out single from Vogelaar to make it 5-3 Lady Saints.

For the second straight inning, the Lady Saints saw their first two hitters of the inning reach on singles to begin the 4th and a triple from Orr scored both runners to stretch Seward’s lead to 7-3. Four pitches later Bolanos drove home Orr from third with a groundout and after 4 the Lady Saints were comfortably in front 8-3.

Dodge City had a chance to get back into the game in the 5th as they loaded the bases after a Seward error and a walk, but Lady Saints starter Katelyn Craker got a groundout to end the inning and the threat to keep the gals in green on top 8-3.

In the Seward half of the 5th Sitter singled with one out and picked up her 24th stolen base of the year to move to second. Allen then launched a double to drive Sitter home to make it 9-3. A single from Orr brought Allen plateward and a single from Bolanos put runners on the corners with two outs. With the game ending run just 60 feet away, Chavez ripped a 2-0 pitch through a hole on the infield to bring Orr home to make the score 11-3 and to successfully close out a run rule win for the Lady Saints.

The Lady Saints slugged out 17 hits in the win and 8 of 9 Seward starters had a hit in the victory. The first six Seward hitters in the lineup all had multiple hits in the win including Orr who led the Lady Saints offense with 3 hits, 3 RBI’s as well as 3 runs scored. Allen and Bolanos also had 3 hits each for Seward while Chavez was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s. Craker earned the win on the mound, going all 5 innings and yielding 7 hits and 3 runs to the Lady Conqs.

SEWARD COUNTY/DODGE CITY GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2013-14/files/SewardDodge2.pdf>

The Lady Saints run their current win streak to 8 while they finish their longest homestand of the year 6-0 with the two victories. Seward moves to 30-7 on the year with the sweep while Dodge City falls to .500 at 15-15.

Seward will take the day off on Sunday before returning to the field on Monday when they hit the road to Lamar where they will take on the Runnin’ Lopes in the first of two meetings next week between the two.