Seward Bats Explode in Sweep of Lamar

Despite frigid temperatures in Lamar that saw the cancellation of the ‘Lopes baseball games on Sunday, the Seward County Lady Saints and Lamar Lady ‘Lopes proved that girls were tougher than boys as they hit the diamond for a non-conference doubleheader at Merchants Park . Even the ice cold air couldn’t cool down the Lady Saints red hot bats as they pounded out 33 hits and 32 runs in a 14-4, 18-5 sweep of the ‘Lopes to run their current winning streak to five games.

It didn’t take the Lady Saints long to get started in game one of the twinbill as they scored three times in the top half of the 1st inning as Vanessa Oakden and Grace Petersen picked up RBI singles and another run scored on a Lamar error to make it 3-0 Seward.

The Lady Saints added to their lead in the 2nd as they loaded the bases with nobody out, getting two runs on fielder’s choice groundouts and two more on an RBI single by Summer White with two outs in the inning to blow the game open to 7-0.

Seward starter Alexa O’Brien kept the Lopes bats in check through three and the Lady Saints added to their lead in the 4th on an RBI double by Danielle Orr to put Seward in front 8-0.

The Lady Saints added some insurance in the top half of the 5th as Joe Ann Rapoza tripled to start the inning and later scored on a Lamar error to make it 9-0. Seward’s biggest blow of the game came later in the inning as Vanessa Oakden launched a grand slam on an 0-2 pitch to make it 13-0 and the Lady Saints tacked on one more in the inning to make it 14-0 at innings end.

Lamar finally showed some life in the 5th, scoring four times, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the run rule kicked in at the end of the inning and the Lady Saints took the contest 14-4.

Seward scored their 14 runs on just 11 hits, taking advantage of 3 Lamar errors in the contest. Oakden finished a monster game going 2 for 4 with a home run and 6 RBI’s while Danielle Orr, Grace Petersen, and Summer White also had muilti-RBI games for the Lady Saints. O’Brien improved to 3-1 on the season in the circle for Seward, pitching all 5 innings of the victory and allowing just 3 hits and 4 unearned runs while striking out 6.

SEWARD COUNTY/LAMAR GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2014-15/boxscores/20150215_3azz.xml>

The Lady Saints picked up in game two right where they left off in game one, scoring five times in the top half of the 1st inning to grab a 5-0 lead before the ‘Lopes had a chance to pick up the bats. The scoring started on an RBI single by Orr and Seward added two more on an inside the park home run by Petersen to make it 3-0. Two batters later they added their fourth run of the inning on a double from Rapoza and Rapoza herself scored on a Lamar error to put Seward up five.

Lamar struck back in the bottom of the inning, getting a leadoff triple to start a two run frame to cut the Lady Saints to 5-2.

Seward kept the bats going in the 2nd, as their first six batters of the inning reached base including an RBI single from Orr and a two RBI double from Summer White to push the Lady Saints lead to 8-2.

Lamar was unable to score in the bottom of the 2nd and it remained an 8-2 game into the 3rd when the Lady Saints blew the game wide open. Seward scored their first run of the inning on a passed ball and an RBI single from Oakden plated their second to make it 10-2. Orr’s second RBI single of the game made it an 11-2 contest and three more Seward hits including a 2 RBI double from Rapoza pushed their lead to 14-2. Megan Armstrong then singled to make it a 15-2 game and the Lady Saints added another run later in the inning to make it 16-2 before the dust all settled.

The ‘Lopes got a run in the bottom of the 3rd, but the Lady Saints answered right back as Oakden slammed her second home run of the day over the left field wall, this one a two run shot to extend the Seward lead to 18-3.

Lamar scored a run in the bottom of the 4th on a Seward error and added another in the 5th on a passed ball, but it wasn’t enough to extend the game as the Lady Saints brought home an 18-5 run rule win to sweep the doubleheader.

Seward pounded out a season high 22 hits in the game two win, getting hits from every starter and multiple hits from 7 of 9 in their starting lineup. The middle of the Seward order was deadly in the victory as Oakden, Orr, Petersen, White, and Rapoza each went 3 for 4 for the Lady Saints and the bunch combined for 13 RBI’s for Seward. Jaclyn Wagner picked up the win on the mound for Seward to move to 3-1 on the year as she pitched a complete game, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs, 3 earned, while striking out 3.

SEWARD COUNTY/LAMAR GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2014-15/boxscores/20150215_0nnm.xml>

The Lady Saints win their fourth and fifth straight games to improve to 6-3 on the season while Lamar drops to 3-5 with the sweep. Seward will now have five days off before taking the field once again this weekend in Odessa and Midland, Texas where they will take on a trio of formidable foes in Southern Idaho, Odessa and Midland over the weekend.

Roy Allen