Seward Softball Sweeps Northwest Tech

GOODLAND, Kan. – The newest member of the Jayhawk Conference did not receive a warm welcome from the Seward County softball team (25-15, 12-2) as the Lady Saints swept the Northwest Tech Mavericks.  Seward shut out the Mavs 11-0 en route to a run rule victory before winning game two, 14-9.

GAME ONE RECAP

Monique Ashley (17-4) earned another start on the mound, allowing just three hits over the course of five innings while not allowing any runs.  She did not have her normal success striking out batters, but still finished with six k’s in the win.

The Lady Saints finished with 13 hits, led by Paige St. Pierre‘s three.  Jullian Atteberry, Kaitlin Ammermann, Sydney Epp and Cassandra Esquibel each came away with two hits.  Esquibel also led the Lady Saints with four RBI after connecting on her first career home run. Sage Harrison (3 RBI) and Raelyn Sanchez (2 RBI) each contributed multiple runs in the ball game as well.

Scoring had to wait until the second hitting, but with two outs and a runner on second base, Esquibel hit a hard ground ball up the middle to score the first run of the day.

Seward picked up three more runs in the third inning, all while Sanchez was at bat.  Corrina Porras crossed home following a wild pitch with bases loaded.  With the next pitch, Sanchez hit a line drive to center field to score Nester and St. Pierre to make it 4-0.

After a lead off single and two fielder’s choices, the Lady Saints had runner on second and third for Harrison, who promptly cleared the bases with a single to right field putting Seward up six runs.

Looking to end the game early, Esquibel stepped up to the plate in the top of the fifth and blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall to put the score at 9-0. Following two singles, Epp hit a single of her own to put the Lady Saints up double digits before Harrison hit a sac fly to right field to bring the game to 11-0.

An error gave the Mavs a baserunner in the bottom of the fifth, but Ashley took care of the rest forcing two infield pop ups before striking out the final batter to give the Lady Saints the win.

GAME TWO RECAP

Jordan Cordrey (8-8) pitched a complete game in the win.  She gave up nine runs off twelve hits, but only six of the runs were earned with the Lady Saints committing five errors in the game.

Seward finished with 22 hits led by Epp’s 5-for-5 day. Six other Lady Saints finished with multiple hits including three batters with three hits. Atteberry and Porras finished with a team-high three RBI, while Harrison and St. Pierre finished with two each.

Both teams got a run in the first inning.  Porras drove in her first run of the day with a single up the middle. After two errors, the Mavericks has runners on the corners.  A wild pitch on the next pitch tied the game.

An eight-run third inning opened up the flood gates for the Lady Saints. After a lead off fly out, nine straight Lady Saints reached base coming off seven singles, a double and a hit-by-pitch.  The barrage of hits gave Seward an 8-1 lead.

The Mavs got two back in the bottom of the third coming off a double and a sac fly, making it 9-3.

The lead was trimmed even further just an inning later. Two singles allowed Northwest Tech to hit a sacrifice bunt to bring the first run of the inning across the board.  A triple on the next at bat made it 9-5 before an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt scored another run.

Seward could feel the momentum shifting and halted it before it got any further in favor of the Mavs.  Four two-out singles in the top of the fifth scored three runs to extend their lead back to five at 11-6.

Two errors in the bottom of the fifth allowed the Mavs to score one more run off a ground out.

Atteberry and Ammermann scored the final runs of the day for the Lady Saints, coming off back-to-back home runs, with Atteberry’s being a two-run homer to make it 14-7.

Cordrey kept the Mavs to only two more runs in the final three innings, one coming off a ground out in the bottom of the sixth and the other coming from a double in the bottom of the seventh to bring the game to 14-9.

The Lady Saints will travel to Pratt for a 2:00 p.m. double header against the Beavers on Saturday.