ST. LOUIS, MO. — Missouri Baptist softball split a road doubleheader against Williams Baptist on Wednesday afternoon, hitting three home runs in the game one win.
The Spartan offense found early success in game one and was backed by a strong pitching performance from
Shelby Sievers.
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Sievers got the offense going with a single to the shortstop.
Allison Pingel hit a pop fly in the next at-bat that was dropped by the Eagles' centerfielder, plating the first run of the game.
With Pingel still on base,
Kaitlyn Chadwick stepped up and crushed a 1-0 offering over the centerfield fence to widen the first-inning lead to 3-0.
In the circle, Sievers worked out of jams in the first two innings before settling in with an easy 1-2-3 inning in the third.
The Spartans tacked on another run in the top of fourth. With two outs and no runners on,
Haley Tate took a 2-2 pitch and sent it over the left-field wall for her first career home run.
Williams Baptist answered in the bottom half of the inning, however. A lead-off walk and a single brought Katie Anderson to the plate. Anderson brought in two runs on a double and later came around to score to cut the deficit down to one before Sievers got out of the inning with a flyout to center.
Sydney Berry led off the top of the fifth with a single and advanced to third on consecutive outs from the top of the lineup. With Berry on third and two outs, Sievers helped herself out with a two-run blast to left, her second of the year.
Clinging to a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of fifth, Sievers retired nine of the next 10 batters to come away with her seventh win of the season.
Both teams got off to a slower offensive start in the second game.
MBU plated a run in the second inning on
Katelyn Turbyfill's RBI single to give her team a 1-0 lead to start things. A few innings later, the Eagles got to the Spartans' game two pitcher Tate with three runs in the third and one more in the fifth.
The Spartans answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on RBI singles from
Cami Meddows and another from Turbyfill. In a 4-3 hole, Tate shut out the Eagles in the bottom of the sixth to give her team a reasonable shot at a comeback.
Madalyn Bone singled to begin the top of the seventh before consecutive outs had MBU on the ropes. Pingel delivered with a single that moved Bone over to third followed by a Chadwick walk to load the bases with two outs.
The Spartans got a hard-hit ball from Tate but unfortunately for the visitors, the Eagles' centerfielder tracked it down to earn her team a Friday afternoon split.
After the doubleheader, the Spartans sit in third place in the American Midwest Conference standings with an 11-5 conference record and a 14-10 overall record. In their next matchup, softball hits the field in Arkansas for the second consecutive day on Saturday to take on the 18th-ranked Central Baptist Mustangs at noon.
