Fulton, Mo. 4/19/2022- The Westminster softball team played a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader against the Principia College Panthers. The Blue Jays sweep the Panthers on the season, going 4-0 after winning game one, 14-0, and game two, 20-0. The Blue Jays have now won three of their last four and improved to 5-7 in conference play and 7-17 overall in the 2022 campaign. With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Blue Jays look to be back on track as they are beginning the final push to the postseason.
In-game one, the Blue Jays would score in every inning after getting off to a relatively slow start, compared to the last time these two teams met. Eva Gannon (Wentzville, Mo. / Holt) launched a one-out home run over the left-center field fence. The first of the season and the first one of her collegiate career. This would start a four-run inning for the Jays. Laney Rosson (Columbia, Mo. / Battle) followed that up with a two-RBI double to center field, putting the Blue Jays up 6-0.
The Blue Jays would plate seven more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kelsey Logan (Fulton, Mo/ South Callaway) hit a leadoff double to right field. She would later score the first run of the inning on a ground out by Gannon. Emily Esquivel (San Diego, Ca. / Eastlake) would hit a two-RBI single to right field later in the inning with runners on second and third. When the inning ended, the Jays would score seven runs on seven hits. They would win 14-0 and record sixteen hits in the game.
Freshman pitcher Haley Miller (O'Fallon, MO / Liberty) got the call to start game one and she would continue her run of quality starts after pitching a five-inning shutout. She struck out nine total batters, walked two, and gave up three hits.
Rosson went three for four with three runs scored and three RBIs. Esquivel also went three for four, scoring one run and having three RBIs. Maddie Marrero (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) went two for two with two runs scored and two RBIs. Every Blue Jay that got in the game would also score at least one run.
Game two got off to a faster start with the Blue Jays scoring three runs in the first inning. Rosson started things off with a double to left field. She would score on a Kasey Ginder (Kirkwood, Mo. / Kirkwood) single to right field. Raegen Dickinson (Ozark, MO / Ozark) would walk to load the bases. Bailee Zemianek (Wentzville, MO / Holt) would reach on a fielder's choice after the Panthers got Ginder on the force out at third base. Esquivel would score on the play. Logan would each first after a fielding error by the Panthers that would score Dickinson.
Moving into the middle of the 2nd inning, Dickinson would step to the plate with runners on second and third. She would hit a two-run single to left field, giving the Blue Jays a 6-0 lead. Summer Boswell (Wright City, Mo. / Wright City) draws a walk with the bases loaded to score a run. Kayleigh Fike (Eldon, Mo. / Eldon) would single to right to score another run. Marrero followed up with a single of her own as the Blue Jays started going base to base. Rosson would hit a double to center field, scoring the last run of the big seven-run inning.
Erin Carr (Woodlawn, Il / Christ Our Rock Lutheran) pitched a five-inning shutout and struck out thirteen batters en route to the season sweep of Principia. The thirteen strikeouts are a season and career-high for Carr.
Fike would lead the Blue Jays in hitting, going three for four, scoring two runs and three RBIs. Ginder went three for four with two runs scored and two RBIs. Esquivel scored a team-high four runs. The Blue Jays scored twenty runs on eighteen hits.
The Blue Jays travel to Eureka, IL on Saturday to take on the Red Devils in the SLIAC Game of the Week. Both teams are in third place in their respective divisions at the time of this writing. If the Blue Jays can win both games, they will close the gap on the Webster University Gorloks who are currently sitting in the second spot. The Blue Jays have history on their side as they are 19-11 all-time against Eureka. Westminster has won three straight and eight of the last nine. Game one is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.
