The Westminster softball team began the 2015 season with two losses to Hendrix College on a snowy Friday evening. The Westminster Blue Jays fell in the first game of the doubleheader 4-2, followed by an 11-1 loss in five innings in the second game.
Sophomore Kelsi Hill scored the first run of the first game after reaching on a fielding error. Sophomore Allison Biggs was credited with the RBI after hitting a fielder's choice to second in the first inning and Hill scored the unearned run.
Hendrix tied the game up in the bottom of the first, but sophomore Alyson Hahn led off the second inning with a single to right field. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Brittany Hodge and was brought in by freshman Amber Tepen's single up the middle.
The Blue Jays held the 2-1 lead until Hedrix put up two runs in the fourth. They added another run in the fifth to take the 4-2 lead, and the Blue Jays were unable to score again.
Hahn pitched the six innings and faced 27 batters. She threw 56 strikes and struck out three. Tepen went 2-4 from the plate. Hill led the team with five putouts while freshman Abby Bartley had four. Hahn had four assists.
Hendrix jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first inning of the second game and the Blue Jays were unable to recover. The Warriors added another run in the second before the Blue Jays were able to find home plate. The run came from Tepen after she got on with a double to center field and scored off Biggs' RBI.
Hendrix scored a run in the bottom of the third and another in the bottom of the fourth to take the 11-1 lead. The Blue Jays were unable to decrease their deficit, ending the game with an 11-1 loss in the fifth.
Bartley started the game on the mound and pitched one inning. Freshman Kat Cooper came in as a relief and pitched the final three innings. She faced 16 batters and struck out one. Biggs went 2-2 from the plate, and freshman Peyton Hall led the team with five putouts.
The Blue Jays will close out their Arkansas roadtrip on Saturday, February 28, with a 10:00 a.m. game versus Washington University-St. Louis and a 2:00 p.m. game versus Hendrix College.
