Blue Jay Softball Splits Doubleheader Against Greenville

Picture by Caleb Maassen.
Picture by Caleb Maassen.

Fulton, MO 4/24/2023- The Westminster College softball team hosted the Greenville University Panthers for a Monday afternoon doubleheader. The Panthers would hit two home runs in game one to win 3-0. In game two, the Blue Jays would rally from being down 3-0 and score four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the game 4-3.

Game One: Box Score

Haley Miller (O'Fallon, MO / Liberty) got the start in game one, she would throw a complete game three-hitter and struck out two batters. Unfortunately, those two hits would come in the form of home runs for Greenville in the top of the sixth inning to give them a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Jays would start the game with Maddie Marrero (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) drawing a lead-off walk. Emily Esquivel (San Diego, Ca. / Eastlake) would single to put runners on first and second with no outs in the inning. Westminster would be unable to bring them in. The Jays would threaten to score once again in the bottom of the sixth with Marrero reaching on an error to start the inning. She would steal second base as well. Esquivel would hit an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Esquivel would steal second base as well. The Blue Jays would once again be unable to bring a run in.

Eva Gannon (Wentzville, Mo. / Holt) looked to start a seventh-inning rally with the Blue Jays down 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh. Gannon would rope a lead-off single to center field. Kennedy Grimsley (Bowling Green, MO / Bowling Green) would come in to pinch run. Payton Dudenhoeffer (Jefferson City, MO / Helias Catholic) would lay down a sacrifice bunt to move Grimsley up to second base. Madelynn Kordik (St. Louis, MO / Mehlville) would pinch hit and draw a walk, and put runners on the corners as Grimsley moved up to third base on a wild pitch. Westminster would be unable to bring them home and lost the game 3-0.

Game Two: Box Score

Caroline Bentley (Bakersfield, MO / Bakersfield) started on the mound in game two, she would pitch two innings, striking out one and giving up one run on one hit and walking one batter. The Panthers would hit a home run in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Miller would come into the game in the third inning and pitch the rest of the way. Greenville would score a run in the top of the third and another one in the top of the fifth inning to take a 3-0 lead in the later stages of the game.

The Blue Jays would rally in the bottom of the sixth with Esquivel drawing a lead off walk. Raigan McKee (Oologah, OK / Oologah) would then double to left center field to put runners on second and third and no outs in the inning. Raegen Dickinson (Ozark, MO / Ozark) would bring life to the Blue Jay fans in attendance with a single to left field scoring Esquivel and getting Westminster on the board. The crowd would then erupt as Haylee Chandler (Bowling Green, MO / Bowling Green) smoked a hit down the left field line for a double and scored McKee with runners still on second and third with no outs. Gannon would get the ball in play, reaching on a fielder's choice and bringing in the game-tying run to make it 3-3 with still no outs and a runner on the corners. Kelsey Logan (Fulton, MO/ South Callaway) would bring in the go-ahead run to give the Jays a 4-3 lead.

Greenville would get a runner on first with a one-out single but then would hit back-to-back pop-outs to give Westminster the 4-3 victory.

Miller would pitch five innings, striking out two batters and throwing 68 pitches after already 74 pitches in game one. She would pick up her second win of the season in what must be described as a heroic performance by the sophomore pitcher.

The Blue Jays improved to 3-29 overall on the season and 3-8 in the SLIAC. Greenville moves to 16-11 on the year and 6-3 in the conference.

Westminster will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to St. Louis to take on Webster University in a doubleheader scheduled for 3:00 PM

 

 

Blue Jays Fall To Golden Eagles; Miller Gets 100th Career Strikeout

Graphic by Caleb Maassen
Graphic by Caleb Maassen

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.

 

Blue Jays Swept By Fontbonne

Picture by Caleb Maassen
Picture by Caleb Maassen

Fulton,Mo 4/19/2023- The Westminster College Softball team played in a conference series against the Fontbonne University Griffins. The Blue Jays would end up losing game one 9-0 and lost game two 11-2.

 

Game 1: Box Score

 

On the mound for the Blue Jays Haley Miller (O'Fallon, Mo / Liberty) went 5.2 innings facing 31 batters giving up 10 hits and striking out 2 batters. Miller looks forward to the weekend as she will start against Spalding University.

 

Offensively the Blue Jays got in total 6 hits from 5 different batters. Reagan Dickinson (Ozark,Mo / Ozark) led the Blue Jays offense going 2-3. While Maddie Marrero (Columbia, Mo / Rock Bridge) and Emily Esquivel (San Diego,Ca / Eastlake) ended up going 1-3. Kelsey Logan (Fulton, Mo/ South Callaway) and Felicity Kirby (Camdenton,Mo / Camdenton) both went 1-2.

 

Game 2: Box Score

 

Starting off the second game Freshman Caroline Bently (Bakerfield,Mo/ Bakersfield) gets the start. Bently went 4.1 innings facing 24 batters and only giving up 9 hits. In relief for Bently Freshman Payton Dudenhoeffer (Jefferson City,Mo/ Helias Catholic) came in to finish the game. Dudenhoeffer went 1.2 innings facing 9 batters and only giving up 2 hits.

 

Dickinson and Haylee Chandler (Bowling Green, Mo/ Bowling Green) led the offense for the Blue Jays. Dickinson went 1-3 with a two run shot to left field. Chandler ended the game 2-3 trying to help the Blue Jays offense to score.

 

The Blue Jays next game is Sunday, April 23 against Spalding. The First game starts at 10 Am with the second game following.