Westminster Softball Falls to Central Methodist in Extra Innings

Taylor White (12)
Taylor White (12)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Westminster softball dropped two games to Central Methodist in a neutral site matchup, including a nine-inning thriller.

The Blue Jays start the year 0-4 with the two losses. 

"It was huge for us to get in two games this week and we appreciate Central Methodist coming down to play," said Westminster Head Coach Sara Stafford. "We've been trying to get them to communicate more and that was a lot better today. The more games we get and the more opportunities we have to play, the better we'll be."

In the first game of the day, both teams remained scoreless until the Eagles put up three runs in the top of the third. Westminster answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on a triple from Taylor White to score Mackenzie Myers

The Eagles increased their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth. The Blue Jays managed to put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single from Bailee Zemianek and a run from White on an error, but it wasn't enough to take the lead, with Westminster falling 5-3. 

Katie Price pitched six innings in the loss, giving up five runs, three earned, on seven hits and four strikeouts. 

In game two, Westminster started the game out with a bang, going up 2-0 in the top of the first on a two-run home run from Price. 

A triple and a sacrifice fly from the Eagles evened the game out at two runs apiece after one inning. Central Methodist increased their lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the third inning, but Westminster took back the lead with a three-run fourth on runs scored from Price and an RBI single from Laney Rosson to score Susan Buchanan

The back-and-forth battle continued when the Eagles answered in the bottom of the fourth to take back the lead 6-5.

The Blue Jays scored two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth to take back the lead 8-6. Madison Washington hit a single to score Price and a single up the middle from Buchanan, while a double from Lauren Huskey scored Zemianek. The Eagles added two runs in the sixth to force extra innings. 

Price and Brooklyn Bledsoe added RBIs in the eighth to go up 10-8, but the Eagles again answered in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 10 runs apiece. Westminster added two runs in the top of the ninth, but the Eagles came back in the ninth to score three runs to eventually take the win, 13-12. 

Westminster takes the road Friday for their annual spring break trip to California, starting with Marymount University Saturday.

"It's going to be great to go on the California trip and keep getting better and keep letting players battle it out for positions," said Stafford. "When we come back, we'll be ready for conference play."