Louisville, KY 4/23/2023- The Westminster College softball team traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, to take on the Spalding University Golden Eagles in a Sunday afternoon SLIAC doubleheader. The Golden Eagles would win game one, 19-3, and game two, 8-1.
Game One: Box Score
The Golden Eagles came out swinging, scoring three runs in the first inning and eight runs in the second inning to take an early 11-0 lead. They would score eight runs in the fourth inning to make it 19-3.
Westminster would string together runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Emily Esquivel (San Diego, Ca. / Eastlake) led the Blue Jays going two for three at the plate and scoring a run after Haylee Chandler (Bowling Green, MO / Bowling Green) drove her in with a fielder's choice in the top of the third. Raigan McKee (Oologah, OK / Oologah) would also go two for three from the dish with an RBI after hitting a single up the middle and scoring Kelsey Logan (Fulton, MO/ South Callaway) with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning. Felicity Kirby (Camdenton, MO / Camdenton) was responsible for the third run of the game after hitting an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning.
Payton Dudenhoeffer (Jefferson City, MO / Helias Catholic) got the start on the mound in the game for the Blue Jays and she would pitch two and two-thirds innings, striking out four batters, walking four batters, and giving up ten runs on eight hits. Caroline Bentley (Bakersfield, MO / Bakersfield) would come in to finish the game. She would pitch an inning and a third, walking two batters and giving up nine runs on eight hits.
Game Two: Box Score
The Blue Jays would strike first in game two, scoring a run in the top of the first inning with Esquivel getting things started with a one-out single to center field. She would then steal second base. McKee would ground out to second base but be able to move Esquivel up to third base. Raegen Dickinson (Ozark, MO / Ozark) would then hit an RBI single to left field to score Esquivel to give the Jays a 1-0 lead.
Westminster would get a runner to third base in the second inning but was unable to bring her in. They would be threatening again at the top of the fourth, getting runners on the corners with one out, but would strand the runners on base.
The Golden Eagles would score two runs in the bottom of the first, three runs in the bottom of the second, and three runs in the bottom of the sixth to win the game 8-1.
Haley Miller (O'Fallon, MO / Liberty) would pitch a complete game, walking six batters and giving up eight runs on ten hits. She would also strike out two batters and get her 100th career strikeout in her 32nd career start as a sophomore.
The Blue Jays will return to Fulton and be in action tomorrow, Monday, April 24th as they host Greenville University for a doubleheader starting at 4:00 PM. This is a makeup date from the game scheduled on April 15th.
