WINFIELD, Kan. – On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Winfield, the Southwestern College softball team hosted the visiting No. 17-ranked Braves of Ottawa University at Broadway Sports Complex. Two exciting seven-inning affairs against the impressive outfit, ended with two losses for the Builders, but instilled hope into a team that has been yearning to be competitive within the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).
Tilt number one began in favor of the Braves, as they scored two runs on three hits in the opening frame. A double to left field opened the scoring for Ottawa, to put them up by one. In addition, a single to right field let another run cross the dish to put OU up 2-0 after the first inning.
Furthermore, the Braves grabbed another run in the top of the second inning, as the Moundbuilders had a fielding error that led to an unearned run scored by Ottawa.
Ottawa added two more runs in the third inning to update the score to 5-0. Two RBI singles, one down the left field line and one through the right side, gave Ottawa the two tallies in the stanza.
The Moundbuilders could not muster any runs until the fourth inning. Finally, Zoe Berger smashed the ball to right center to earn a double and her first RBI of the game, as Alexus Johnson ran home to score the first run for the Builders.
Starting the fifth inning, the Builders had hope for a comeback, as the Braves seemed to struggle to hit anything due to a great pitching performance by Johnson.
Unfortunately, the score would stay at 5-1 until the end, as both teams were unable to add additional runs to the scoreboard. A competitive performance by the Builders in game one gave hope for the second tilt of the day.
In game two, both teams could not find their way onto the scoreboard until the second inning, when the Braves snagged two runs to get things going. A double to right center and a single through the right side led to two runs scored.
Another two scoreless innings on both sides kept the game a low scoring tilt, before each team was able to put up runs in the fifth. Starting with the Braves, a fly out to left field led to a run scored to improve their lead to 3-0.
The Builders then responded with two runs scored on three hits. Isabel Lytle cracked a triple to right center that led to two runs scored by Reagan Wright and Taylor Mesna, changing the score to 3-2.
Unfortunately, that was it, as no more runs were scored on the Builders side. In addition, the Braves added three more runs over the following two innings to improve their lead to 6-2, which would end up being the final score of the ballgame.
Southwestern managed 10 total hits over the course of 14 innings, as they had three in game one and seven in the latter bout. Loren Wright was the only multi-hit performer in a single game, as she went 2-for-2 in the second battle of the day. Hannah Hlavenka and Lytle each had one hit in each game, while Berger, Johnson, Rayven Favors and Kalli Viegra added the remaining knocks for the squad.
The Builder pitchers had great days in the circle for the most part, holding a nationally-ranked club to just 11 runs across 14 innings. Al. Johnson tossed a complete game in the first tilt, allowing five runs (four earned) and just seven hits. She struck out eight Braves en route to her strong display. Raleigh Kramer was good, as well, allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits. She struck out three and walked four in the performance.
The Builders (2-27, 0-12 KCAC) are now preparing to battle the University of Saint Mary at Broadway Sports Complex in Winfield on Tuesday, Apr. 11. The opener of the doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m., as Southwestern searches for a victory or two in the conference slate with newfound confidence in their competitive moxie.
--buildersports.com--
