ST. LOUIS - Missouri Baptist claimed a pair of victories of No. 20 Benedictine in their home opener by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 with a walkoff single from Alexi Sanchez in game two in the 10th inning.

 

Game 1 Recap

Brooklynn Fischer took care of the Ravens in the first two innings as she struck out the side in each of them.

 

Fischer and Jacie Dees led off the bottom of the second with singles before Camryn Kessler drove home Fischer on an RBI single to make it 1-0.

 

The Spartans got to work quickly in the bottom of the third as Makayla Johnson drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and Allison Leigraf brought her across home plate with a double off the left field fence. Fischer singled to put runners at the corners and Dees hit a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 3-0, bringing home Leigraf.

 

Benedictine finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning as they scored two runs on two hits and an error, but Missouri Baptist still held a 3-2 lead.

 

An error brought home Dees in the bottom half of the inning to extend the Spartans' lead back to two runs, and Taylor Whitehead came in with a chance to get the save with a runner on base. She was able to strike out two batters and force a pop out to give Missouri Baptist a 4-2 victory.

 

Fischer threw a tremendous game in the circle for the Spartans as she only gave up two runs on four hits and struck out 12 Ravens in six innings of work. 

 

Winning Pitcher: Brooklynn Fischer (5-2)

Losing Pitcher: B. Selvage (5-4)

Save: Taylor Whitehead (1)

 

Batting Leaders

Jacie Dees: 2-for-2, RBI, R, SB

Brooklynn Fischer: 2-for-3

Jenna Achs: 2-for-3, SB

 

Game 2 Recap

Whitehead started in the circle, stranding a runner on base in the first and striking out one.

 

Johnson and Alexi Sanchez both reached base in the bottom half of the first, but were unable to come around to score.

 

The Ravens got a 2-0 lead after the fourth inning as they scored a run in the third and fourth innings.

 

Missouri Baptist was unable to get their bats going or pick up a timely hit throughout the first six innings. Down by two in the seventh inning, the Spartans got started when Achs roped a single down the left field line. Down to their final out, Miranda Ladson hit a double to left field, extending the game to Johnson. With two strikes, Johnson ripped a ball off the right field fence for a two RBI triple forcing extra innings.

 

The two soon to be conference foes went quietly into the 10th inning when they started putting runners on the bases with nobody out. An error put runners at second and third with nobody out for the Ravens, but Whitehead struck out one and forced two infield pop ups to get out of the 10th inning unscathed.

 

Madison Leckrone came on to run for the Spartans in the bottom half of the inning, and with two outs and Leckrone on third, Sanchez got a pitch to hit and ripped it into left field for a walkoff single and a victory for Missouri Baptist.

 

Whitehead threw 10 innings for the Spartans, striking out eight batters and only allowing two runs. The Spartans played pretty clean defense, despite the error in the 10th, making 22 outs behind Whitehead.

 

The Spartans put together amazing at-bats when they needed to, surging them to a sweep over No. 20 Benedictine in their first home series of the season.

 

Winning Pitcher: Taylor Whitehead (6-0)

Losing Pitcher: B. Selvage (5-5)

 

Batting Leaders

Makayla Johnson: 2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI, SB

Jenna Achs: 2-for-4, SB

Miranda Ladson: 2-for-4, 2B

 

Records

Missouri Baptist: 15-3 (0-0 AMC)

Benedictine: 13-9 (0-0 HEART)

 

Next Game

The Spartans will continue their homestand with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2:00 p.m. against St. Francis.

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