CARLINVILLE, Ill. - Westminster softball earned a doubleheader sweep over Blackburn, allowing just one run in 13 innings of play.
With the wins, Westminster improves to 10-12 overall and 10-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, moving into second place behind 4-0 Spalding after an Iowa Wesleyan sweep of Greenville.
"Today was a great team win," said Westminster Head Coach Sara Stafford. "We have so much talent on our team and as a coach, I'm fortunate to have to many good options. Every time I called on someone to go in today, they performed."
The Blue Jays swept the Beavers in game one, ending in an early six inning of play.
After three shutout innings by both teams, Westminster finally got on the board in the fourth inning with RBI singles from Mikala Guthrie and Mackenzie Myers, scoring Hannah Schroeder and Madison Washington to take a 2-0 lead.
Schroeder added a run in the fifth with an RBI single to score Brooklyn Bledsoe.
A six-run sixth inning sealed the win for Westminster, starting off with a single from Hannah Fuglaar to score Susan Buchanan. The second run of the inning came from Bledsoe, a double to score Myers, while a sacrifice fly from Taylor White scored Fuglaar. The final three runs came on RBI hits from Fuglaar, Guthrie, and a double from Lauren Huskey for Westminster to take the 9-0 win and the end game in six innings.
Madison Ingram took the win on the mound, pitching six innings and giving up just one hit, her second straight one-hitter in SLIAC play.
Game two went a full seven innings when the Blue Jays took a close 2-1 victory.
Both teams played a scoreless five innings, until Westminster took the lead in the sixth with an RBI sacrifice fly from Guthrie to score Huskey, taking a 1-0 lead.
Myers increased the lead with a double to score Madison Washington, taking a 2-0 lead.
The Beavers tried to make a comeback in the bottom of the sixth by answering with one run, but Bailee Zemaniek was dominant on the mound and took the win, pitching the complete game.
Zemaniek earned the win with the complete game on the mound, her first collegiate win, allowing one run on eight hits.
"Blackburn has some good hitters and to keep them to scoring just one run today is a great accomplishment," said Stafford. "Our defense also did work today. The one of two misplays didn't hurt us and it was an overall great day."
Westminster travels to Lindenwood-Belleville Monday for the last nonconference battle of the season before heading to Fontbonne Wednesday to continue conference play.
