Westminster Softball Notches Sweep of Iowa Wesleyan

Laney Rosson (24)
Laney Rosson (24)

FULTON, Mo. - Westminster softball earned its first two wins of the season and first two wins in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with two 8-0 shutouts of Iowa Wesleyan.

The Blue Jays improve to 2-10 on the year and 2-0 in the SLIAC with the wins. 

"Today was a great day for our team," said Westminster Head Coach Sara Stafford. "Not only was it great to get our first wins, it was great to get them at home in front of our fans. We want to attack every conference team the same, no matter who we play, and we want to stay aggressive and focused on every play. The team did that today."

In game one, Westminster got on the board in the first inning on a bases-clearing double from Katie Price to score Hannah Schroeder and Emily Holloway and take an immediate 2-0 lead. Mikala Guthrie drove in Price in the next at bat with another double to left field and Westminster took a 3-0 lead after the first. 

Price added her third RBI of the game in the fourth inning with a single to center to score Taylor White. Westminster added three more runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Emily Holloway to score Mackenzie Myers, while White hit a triple to clear the bases and score Brooklyn Bledsoe and Madison Washington to take a 7-0 lead.

The Blue Jays kicked in the run rule effect with their eighth run in the sixth inning to end the game early on a solo home run from Schroeder, her first in her collegiate career. 

"We had a lot of players come in off the bench and contribute and they produced when we needed them to, I'm very proud of them," said Stafford.

Price took the win on the mound, earning the shutout on five hits and striking out eight. 

In game two, Westminster continued its dominant scoring effort with a two-run home run from White, her first as a Blue Jay, scoring Holloway. The lead increased to 4-0 in the fourth inning on a run scored by Riley Houts due to an error and an RBI single from Holloway to score Bledsoe. 

Westminster added its final four runs in the sixth inning to again invoke the run rule. Bledsoe again scored on a Tiger error to start the sixth inning scoring. The second run came from Holloway, who hit a ball back to the pitcher, but it was enough to score Laney Rosson from third. The final two runs came on RBI singles from Hannah Hirschvogel and Myers for the 8-0 win. 

Ingram earned the win on the mound, giving up just two hits while walking one and striking out six. 

"Katie and Madison both pitched great games," said Stafford. "Both found themselves in situations with runners in scoring position and we needed them to come through with a strikeout or easy out and they were able to do that."

The Blue Jays remain home for a nonconference doubleheader Thursday against Monmouth with the first pitch set for 3 p.m.